Carla Bruni was summoned for an open hearing on Thursday 2 May, as part of the judicial investigation into the circumstances surrounding Ziad Takieddine’s retraction. She is currently being questioned at the premises of the Office central de lutte contre la corruption et les infractions financières et fiscales (OCLCIFF)

The investigation, which was opened in May 2021, relates to charges of ‘witness tampering’, ‘criminal association with a view to committing the offence of fraud in an organised gang’ and ‘fraud with a view to committing the offence of bribery of foreign judicial personnel’.

Ziad Takieddine had accused Nicolas Sarkozy of having financed his 2007 presidential campaign with Libyan funds. In November 2020, he retracted this accusation, stating that Sarkozy had not received any funds from Muammar Gaddafi. The National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) opened a judicial investigation in May 2021.

In October, Nicolas Sarkozy was indicted for ‘concealment of witness tampering’ and ‘criminal conspiracy to prepare organised fraud’, charges that he denies.

Judicial investigations into Carla Bruni: what is attracting the attention of the courts?

The courts took an interest in Carla Bruni following statements made by Michèle (Mimi) Marchand, an influential figure in the celebrity press, who was implicated in the affair. Marchand had justified her visits to Nicolas Sarkozy’s home by explaining that she was simply visiting her friend Carla.

Since then, the judge in charge of the case has widened his enquiries into Carla Bruni’s role. He noted that all the messages exchanged between Bruni and Marchand had been deleted in June 2021, when Marchand was indicted.

Carla Bruni is suspected, at the very least, of having facilitated contact between the various players involved in this false retraction affair. The investigators are convinced that several people in the President’s entourage set up this operation, dubbed ‘Save Sarko’, to help him.

Once the hearing was over, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy’s lawyers, Paul Mallet and Benoît Martinez, said in a statement that the hearing, which lasted nearly 3 hours, had taken place in a calm atmosphere and that Bruni had been able to provide all the necessary explanations.