In the investigation into Ziad Takieddine's retraction, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy admits to having possessed a phone which interested the police

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy had initially contested having a telephone at the heart of the investigation into Ziad Takieddine's retraction of his accusations of Libyan financing of the 2007 campaign of her husband, Nicolas Sarkozy. But facing the judges at the beginning of July, the artist said he remembered the line, ruling out any infraction, according to his statements to the judges of which Agence France-Presse (AFP) has just become aware.

On July 9, the wife of the former head of state (2007-2012) was indicted by two Parisian judges for concealment of witness tampering and criminal association with a view to gang trial fraud. organized.

In this legal case opened in mid-2021, Nicolas Sarkozy was implicated in October 2023, suspected of having approved maneuvers to obtain, at the end of 2020, the temporary about-face of Ziad Takieddine, the main witness at charge in this resounding affair, the main part of which will be judged at the beginning of 2025. In total, a dozen people are implicated to varying degrees.

Ligne « 43 97 »

At the heart of the investigations, a telephone nicknamed “43 97”. The judges suspect that it was used by the Sarkozy couple to exchange discreetly with “Mimi” (Michèle) Marchand, ex-popess of the celebrity press and former friend of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, also implicated.

Before the police, in May, the latter had denied having this line or knowing the alleged initiatives to exonerate her husband. Cornered by the investigators' questions about the inconsistencies in her version, she blurted out: “I'm trying to come up with explanations. »

But on July 9, according to her statements to the judges, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy ended up admitting having “used this phone occasionally sometimes”. “It was the police who told me, because I didn’t remember”she said. “This line is not an occult line as I read in the press”she assured; she had been “open for [s]'children'. Who helped her, like the police, to refresh her memory, she also remembered.

She justified her use because her main line would have been blocked abroad, her usual phone would have broken “while riding the ElliptiGO” (an elliptical bike) or because their messaging services have been hacked.

But, if Carla Bruni-Sarkozy recognized the evidence of the possession of “43 97”, she persisted in denying being the author and recipient of the SMS exchanged with Mimi Marchand which seem to be linked to this so-called “Save Sarko” operation. “.

“Absolute coincidence”

“On October 18, 2020 you learned that Mimi Marchand is leaving for Lebanon” meet Ziad Takieddine, “on October 22 you ask him when he arrives if everything is okay, and on October 1^is November you receive a long report message. Do you understand that we are wondering? »says one of the judges.

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy then denies having read this last message, but the judge technically proves the opposite. “Whose act. I have no memory”declares the model. “Is Nicolas Sarkozy the final recipient? » of the report, we ask him. “I didn’t read it and I didn’t let anyone read it”further attests Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.

“How do you explain” that this phone appears on dates “enough keys?” » in the alleged operation, the magistrates later questioned. “For me, it’s an absolute coincidence”certifies the artist, a coincidence orchestrated, according to her, by Mimi Marchand, who « ment »Who “manipulates” and for whom she now nourishes “hostility” assumed: “Someone who went to prison, it’s never by chance”tackle Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.

Asked by AFP, his lawyers Paul Mallet and Benoît Martinez responded that this line had been opened “well before” the operation subject of this investigation and is “therefore unrelated to”. “Carla Bruni-Sarkozy will provide evidence demonstrating that she [l’a] used to communicate occasionally with relatives who are completely unrelated to the procedure”they added.

As this case nears its conclusion, former President Sarkozy, whose lawyer did not respond to AFP, is trying to obtain from the Paris Court of Appeal the nullity of his indictment and the disorientation of judicial information. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy “will exercise all avenues of appeal”his lawyers said.

Also interviewed by AFP, M^e Caroline Toby announced that her client Mimi Marchand « a[vait] learned with astonishment of the harsh statements made by Carla Bruni-Sarkozy towards him. She has always maintained that neither she nor her husband were directly or indirectly involved. [dans les] alleged facts. She doesn't understand this trial of intent.”.