French politics
法国政治
Mar 19th 2013, 20:11 by S.M. | NEW YORK
“A THUNDERBOLT”, is how one French paper greeted the news that Nicolas Sarkozy was placed under formal judicial investigation, late on March 21st. The former French president is to be investigated for “abuse of frailty”, in connection with an illegal party-financing case linked to Liliane Bettencourt, the elderly billionaire heiress to the L’Oréal cosmetics empire.
尼古拉斯•萨科齐于3月21日受到正式的司法调查，法国媒体将这场调查称之为“（政治界和法律界的）地震”。这位法国前总统因涉嫌收取法国亿万富翁、欧莱雅集团女继承人莉莉亚娜•贝当古的非法政治献金而受到调查。
The Bettencourt case, which began as a dynastic dispute and turned into a saga that mixes alleged tax evasion, a tropical island, domestic servants, fabulous wealth and political party-financing, has been underway for several years. Nearly a dozen people have been put under formal investigation, including Eric Woerth, the former treasurer of Mr Sarkozy’s UMP party and an ex-minister. Until now, it looked as if Mr Sarkozy had escaped such a fate. Last November investigating judges held him for 12 hours of questioning, as a witness in the case, but decided not to pursue a formal investigation.
“贝当古事件”始于家族内斗，后演变为涉及偷税漏税，热带岛屿，家佣，巨额财富以及政治竞选筹资的家族传奇，并连续上演多年。将近十几个人接受了正式调查，其中包括萨科奇所在的人民运动联盟（注释1）的前预算部长埃里克•沃尔斯。至今为止，萨科齐似乎已逃脱这一立案调查。去年11月，调查法官对萨科齐进行了12小时的问询，只是作为“需要律师在旁协助的证人”而接受问询，法官决定不对其进行正式调查。
On March 21st, however, investigating judges in Bordeaux questioned Mr Sarkozy again, and confronted him with various witnesses, including Mrs Bettencourt’s former butler, Pascal Bonnefoy, and other former domestic staff. This time, the investigating judge decided that he had enough evidence to go ahead.
然而，调查法官于3月21日在波尔多市向萨科奇进行了再一次的问询，并与多名证人进行了对质，包括贝当古女士的前管家帕斯卡•博纳富瓦以及其他几位前家佣。调查法官认为他这次已有足够的证据对萨科奇进行正式调查。
The case centres around whether or not Mr Sarkozy requested or received illegal sums from Mrs Bettencourt to help to finance his successful 2007 election campaign. Under French law, no private individual can contribute more than €4,600 ($5,960). Investigators are looking into allegations that €150,000 was transferred by Mrs Bettencourt’s former wealth manager to Mr Sarkozy’s party. The heiress’s former butler, whose tape of private conversations at her house triggered part of the investigation, alleges that there have been several meetings between Mr Sarkozy and the Bettencourts. The family’s mansion is in Neuilly, a posy suburb of Paris where Mr Sarkozy was mayor for many years.
这一事件聚焦于萨科齐是否要求或者获得贝当古女士的非法资金为自己2007年的成功竞选筹资。根据法国法律的规定，个人的政治献金不能超过4600欧元（5960美元）。贝当古的私人理财经理曾将15万欧元转入萨科齐竞选团队“金库”，调查人员正对这一事件进行调查。这位女继承人的前管家在房子里录下贝当古的秘密谈话也受到调查，该管家称萨科奇和贝当古家族会面频繁。该家族的宅邸位于巴黎的花园式纳依市，萨科齐曾在该市做了多年的市长。
For his part, Mr Sarkozy has denied all allegations. According to leaked testimony after his hearing by investigators last November, he said that: “The Bettencourts never gave me a penny, and I never asked anything of them”. The former president acknowledges dining with the Bettencourts at their mansion before his election, and meeting Liliane Bettencourt once afterwards, but in neither case, he says, did he request donations. Mr Sarkozy’s lawyer has called the decision to put his client under formal investigation “inconsistent” and “unfair”, and said that he will appeal.
萨科齐本人对这些指控加以否认。根据去年11月的调查听证会泄露的证词，他说：“贝当古家族从来没有给我一分钱，我也从未向他们问过钱”。这位法国前总统承认在他参与竞选之前曾在贝当古家族的宅邸与他们一起吃过饭，之后还和莉莉亚娜•贝当古见过一面，但是在这两次会面中绝对没有向他们提出捐款要求。萨科齐的律师表示，对萨科齐进行正式调查是“前后矛盾，不公平的决定”，他还将提出上诉。
As politicians digested the news, some UMP members seized on the idea of a conspiracy. Christian Estrosi, a former minister under Mr Sarkozy, denounced an “obvious hint of politics”, noting that the judge’s decision came two days after a Socialist minister, Jérôme Cahuzac, resigned in connection with a tax-fraud investigation. Henri Guaino, a deputy and former Elysée adviser to Mr Sarkozy, said that the judge had “dishonoured” the justice system. Others did not go this far, but did not hesitate to criticise the judicial decision. François Fillon, Mr Sarkozy’s former prime minister, declared the move “extravagant”.
当此事从政界中淡化，人民运动联盟的一些成员利用了“阴谋论”这一说法。萨科齐手下的前部长克里斯蒂安•埃斯特鲁斯谴责这一调查是明显的政治行为，并且指出法官是在杰罗姆•卡于扎克因涉嫌税务欺骗而离职的两天后的做出的这一决定。萨科齐的前代理顾问亨利•盖伊诺称法官是败坏国家的司法体系。虽然有些人认为没有严重到这个地步，但是也直言不讳的批判这一司法决定。萨科齐手下的前总理弗朗索瓦•菲永表示这一立案调查行为“荒谬之极”。
Although Mr Sarkozy is presumed innocent during a formal investigation, this sort of probe can go on for years, and can mark public opinion even if the suspect is acquitted. It comes at a particularly awkward time for the former president, who had begun to hint at a political come-back in time for the 2017 presidential election, something he had previously ruled out after his defeat last year by François Hollande. Polls even suggested that the French had begun to forgive him. One, in Paris-Match magazine, shows that, if a run-off vote were held today, 53% would back Mr Sarkozy compared with just 44% for Mr Hollande.
虽然一场正式调查推测萨科齐可能是无辜的，但是这一调查可以进行数年，即便犯罪嫌疑人无罪释放，多少也会受到舆论的影响。这一正式调查来的也真不是时候，这位法国前总统在之前暗示将重回政坛，参加2017年的总统竞选（去年被弗朗索瓦•奥兰德击败后，萨科齐曾否认继续参与总统竞选）。民意调查显示，法国人民也开始渐渐遗忘萨科奇。《巴黎竞赛报》上的一项民意测试显示：如果在现在进行一场决赛选举的话，萨科齐将拥有53%的支持率，而奥兰德只有44%。
It would be a mistake, however, to assume that this rules out for ever Mr Sarkozy’s return. He could yet be acquitted. And the French have a remarkably forgiving approach even to those found guilty of political wrongdoing. Indeed, Mr Sarkozy himself knows something about this. Alain Juppé, a one-time conservative prime minister, was once convicted for political corruption in connection with a fake jobs scandal at the Paris town hall. Mr Sarkozy brought him back into government, and appointed him foreign minister.
如果说这次正式调查使萨科齐重返政坛的梦破碎了，那就大错特错了，他有可能被宣告无罪。而且法国人的饶恕程度超乎想象，他们甚至能宽恕那些有政治不当行为的人。萨科齐本人对此也有所了解。前保守派总理阿兰•朱佩曾涉嫌在市政厅“设虚职领薪”的政治腐败行为被判处监禁。后来萨科齐让他回归政坛，任命为外交部长。