Nicolas Sarkozy was arrested this morning by the anti-corruption office of the French prosecutor's office as part of an investigation into a case of alleged corruption. The interrogation is underway and the hypothesized crimes are extortion and violation of the confidentiality of the investigation. This was revealed by Agence France Presse, quoting police sources.
Françoise Hollande's predecessor at the Elysée Palace has been placed under precautionary custody by the police of Nanterre (near Paris): this is an unprecedented measure for a former President of the French Republic, which will allow the investigators to detain and interrogate Sarkozy for 24 hours , with a possible extension of another 24.
The investigators suspect that the former French number one asked a senior magistrate for information on an investigation in which he was involved, promising him a prestigious position as a reward.
The same investigation yesterday led to the arrest of Thierry Herzog, Sarkozy's lawyer and alleged intermediary, and Gilbert Azibert, the judge involved, advocate general of the Court of Cassation and friend of Herzog.
The investigation started from some telephone conversations between the former tenant of the Elysée and Herzog: the wiretaps had shown that the two were aware of some judicial procedures relating to the investigations into the Bettencourt and Tapie/Lyonnais cases, information which would been provided by Azibert, who would have asked in exchange for a position in Munich.
The homes and offices of Azibert and Herzog had already been searched in early March, while the lawyer's mobile phone and computer equipment had already been seized.
The judicial slate comes at the worst moment for Sarkozy, whose return to politics was expected shortly to take over the head of the conservative UMP party, now in opposition. In turn, the UMP has recently been engulfed in a scandal related to false invoices.
