Guests wake up surprises Tiberi case in court

It is always the main characters of the file, but Jean Tiberi and Xavire have stolen the limelight by the events that marked Monday afternoon the first day of the trial of false voters from the fifth district. Xavire, dark striped and golden earrings, is the first to come to the courtroom, followed by her husband, with a broad smile. The former mayor of Paris (1995-2001) and current mayor of the fifth district and his wife, prosecuted for alleged electoral fraud during the elections of 1995 and 1997, sit at the forefront of the accused. We do hear more.

The event is rather surprise guests of the first day of trial. In a case in which the characters know each other and fight tirelessly for twelve years, the trial actually starts by the unexpected and interminable reading of names and surnames of 196 fake voters identified by name in court. "It may seem tedious, but the court intends to give full play," warned President Jean-Paul Albert as to give substance to the crime accused Tiberi and their nine . The false voters are real people, sometimes registered without their knowledge on the lists of facilities in exchange for a place in nursery or an apartment in the city. Their number was from 3 000 to 4 000, according to which the case was revealed in 1997. Green Antonin Frmion-Yves Danet and Socialist Lyne Cohen-Solal, present in court Tuesday, had complained then.

Run for the slow

Other surprise guest: prosecutor the Republic of Paris, Jean-Claude Marin, who came - exceptionally - to settle in person at the desk to counter the charge in question expressed by lawyers and Jean Tiberi Xavire. Jean-Yves Le Borgne, defender of the former mayor, was outraged that the two judges had signed the order to refer the case to court in March 2008, en Paris. "This order was a primarily political," the lawyer tonne. According to him, the order was written "in haste" from an indictment of "ghost" ... The prosecution, on behalf of the "republican tradition", had refused to pay the full record in election period. At the hearing, the prosecutor of Paris maintains that choice. And, this time at the parties, trying to wring the neck to the idea that race would have prevented the slow file out earlier.

On their bench, the complainants fear still time to slow down the trial. "The Tiberi bogged down and seek to delay a trial in which they have much to lose," says Mr. William Bourdon, lawyer for the city of Paris, including the Civil Party yesterday challenged by the defense.