A French court sentenced six men to prison over their links to former French prime minister Edouard Balladur. They were convicted of funneling cash from ammunition sales to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. The money was invested in Balladur's failed presidential campaign in 1995.
Nicolas Bazire, Balladur's campaign manager in 1995 who was sentenced up to five years in prison 25 years ago in the Karachi Affair is now an executive in the luxury giant LVMH and a close aid of billionaire Bernand Arnault, Financial Times reported.
Another was a Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine and his previous partner Abdul-Rahman Al Assir, whose arrest warrants have also been issued and Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, who has also worked closely with the defence minister. Others who were convicted include Thierry Gaubert, a budget ministry official at the time; and Dominique Castellan, then boss of a defence group.
The lawyers for all six involved in the case said that they would like to appeal for innocence in the case. Bazire, a senior at the LVMH was fined €300,000, according to court documents. The court also alleged that he knew well about where the €1.5m had come from but his lawyer said that the corporate giant has already appealed against the unfounded decision. He also sits on the boards of several big French companies including food retailer Carrefour, waste company Suez, and technology services firm Atos.
The judges argued that the former government officials had attacked the sovereignty of the state by their actions.
The Pakistani affair came to light after a bombing in the port of Karachi in 2002 killed 11 French naval engineers working on a submarine project. At first, the attack was blamed on al-Qaeda, but investigating judges suspected the Pakistani security forces had taken revenge for the termination of secret commissions on the sale of three submarines. Jacques Chirac, who died last year, had cancelled the payments when he beat Mr Balladur to the presidency.
Nicolas Bazire, Balladur's campaign manager in 1995 who was sentenced up to five years in prison 25 years ago in the Karachi Affair is now an executive in the luxury giant LVMH and a close aid of billionaire Bernand Arnault, Financial Times reported.
Another was a Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine and his previous partner Abdul-Rahman Al Assir, whose arrest warrants have also been issued and Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, who has also worked closely with the defence minister. Others who were convicted include Thierry Gaubert, a budget ministry official at the time; and Dominique Castellan, then boss of a defence group.
The lawyers for all six involved in the case said that they would like to appeal for innocence in the case. Bazire, a senior at the LVMH was fined €300,000, according to court documents. The court also alleged that he knew well about where the €1.5m had come from but his lawyer said that the corporate giant has already appealed against the unfounded decision. He also sits on the boards of several big French companies including food retailer Carrefour, waste company Suez, and technology services firm Atos.
The judges argued that the former government officials had attacked the sovereignty of the state by their actions.
The Pakistani affair came to light after a bombing in the port of Karachi in 2002 killed 11 French naval engineers working on a submarine project. At first, the attack was blamed on al-Qaeda, but investigating judges suspected the Pakistani security forces had taken revenge for the termination of secret commissions on the sale of three submarines. Jacques Chirac, who died last year, had cancelled the payments when he beat Mr Balladur to the presidency.