Potential candidate for the presidential election, Dominique de Villepin tries to extricate himself from an argument over gifts received while he was minister. For this, he admitted on Sunday to having made “an error” by accepting two statuettes when he was on the Quai d’Orsay and which he recently made. He additionally denounced “a want to trigger hurt” from somebody near Nicolas Sarkozy.
“It was a mistake. I shouldn’t have accepted them,” the previous Prime Minister declared on France Inter, recalling that “there was no supervision of those conditions on the time”.
One of many statuettes paid for by Blaise Compaoré
Lobbyist Robert Bourgi claimed, in this system Complément d’Enquête broadcast on France 2, to have served as an middleman to supply Dominique de Villepin, Minister of Overseas Affairs from 2002 to 2004, two statuettes of Napoleon paid for by Blaise Compaoré, then president of Burkina Faso, and by the Italian businessman Gian Angelo Perrucci.
Determine of Françafrique, Robert Bourgi declared that the statuettes had been bought for 75,000 euros and 50,000 euros respectively, for a complete worth of 125,000 euros. The precise quantities are “4 to 5 instances decrease”, based on these near Dominique de Villepin who indicated that they’d been given to the Ministry of Overseas Affairs final Monday.
Villepin denounces “a want to hurt”
On Sunday, the previous Prime Minister once more denied any consideration in trade for these presents. Robert Bourgi “was eliminated (from enterprise) on my own and by Jacques Chirac in 2004/2005. Which clearly reveals that there isn’t any maintain, no type of connection that may be nourished on this event.”
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Dominique de Villepin additionally attacked by emphasizing that “Mr. Bourgi is a 40-year good friend of Nicolas Sarkozy” and that these “pseudo revelations come at a time when he’s experiencing tough instances.” in a legal case which is the Libyan affair. So it’s clear that there’s a want to trigger hurt.” “Dominique de Villepin’s fully unfounded insinuations are completely ridiculous and completely inappropriate,” the previous president’s entourage then responded.
In “Extra investigation”, Robert Bourgi additionally affirmed that Nicolas Sarkozy, who has had very unhealthy relations with Dominique de Villepin for a very long time, had nothing to do with these revelations.
