Carla Bruni-Sarkozy had initially fiercely denied owning a telephone at the heart of the investigation into the retraction of Ziad Takieddine who, after accusing Nicolas Sarkozy of having financed his 2007 campaign with Libyan funds, made an about-face. Facing the judges at the beginning of July, the singer “remembered” this line, while ruling out any infringement.
On July 9, the wife of the former head of state was indicted by two Parisian judges for concealment of witness tampering and criminal association with a view to fraud in the judgment by an organized gang. Nicolas Sarkozy was implicated in October 2023, suspected of having approved maneuvers to obtain a temporary about-face by Ziad Takieddine at the end of 2020. He is the main prosecution witness in this resounding case, the main part of which will be judged in early 2025.
A line “opened by [ses] children “
At the heart of the investigations, a telephone nicknamed “43 97”. The judges suspect that it was used by the Sarkozy couple to communicate discreetly with “Mimi” (Michèle) Marchand, ex-popess of the celebrity press and former friend of the model, also implicated.
Before the police in May, the singer denied having this line or knowing the alleged initiatives to exonerate her husband. But on July 9, according to her statements to the judges, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy ended up admitting to having “used this phone occasionally, sometimes. It was the police who told me, because I didn’t remember.”
“This line is not an occult line as I read in the press”, it had been “opened for my children” who helped her, like the police, to refresh her memory, she also recalled the 56-year-old artist. She justified its use because her main line would have been blocked abroad, her usual phone would have broken “while doing the ElliptiGO” (an elliptical bike) or even because her messaging services would have been hacked.
“An absolute coincidence”
“On October 18, 2020, you learn that Mimi Marchand is going to Lebanon” to meet Ziad Takieddine, “on October 22 you ask him upon his arrival if everything is going well, and on November 1, 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,” the model continues.
“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,” Carla Bruni-Sarkozy further attests. “How do you explain” that this phone appears on “fairly key” dates? » 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 “lies”, who “manipulates” and for whom she now harbors assumed “hostility”: “Someone who went to prison, it’s never by chance,” says Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.
Our file on Nicolas Sarkozy
His lawyers Paul Mallet and Benoît Martinez explain that this line had been opened “well before” the operation subject of this investigation and is “therefore unrelated to it”. “Carla Bruni-Sarkozy will provide evidence demonstrating that she [l’] used to communicate occasionally with relatives, completely strangers to the procedure,” they added.
For her part, Caroline Toby indicated that her client Mimi Marchand “read with astonishment the harsh statements made by Carla Bruni-Sarkozy towards her. She has always maintained that neither she nor her husband were directly or indirectly involved (in the) alleged facts. She doesn’t understand this trial of intent.”
