Sarkozy Foe de Villepin Free of Smear Row

The marathon brawl at the top of France's conservative political establishment took another dramatic turn Thursday when a Paris court cleared former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin of charges he orchestrated a smear campaign to scuttle fellow conservative and arch-enemy Nicolas Sarkozy's presidential hopes. De Villepin's acquittal will allow him to redouble his opposition to Sarkozy — and claim he survived the president's attempt to eliminate him with a trumped-up court case.

The trial centered on accusations that de Villepin used successive cabinet positions to mount a dirty tricks campaign in the mid-2000s aimed at discrediting Sarkozy — then a popular minister who shared de Villepin's ambition to succeed President Jacques Chirac. Sarkozy's lawyers argued that de Villepin sought to exploit a fake list of French notables, including Sarkozy, who allegedly held secret bank accounts containing illegal kickback money. (See pictures of Sarkozy.)

De Villepin emphatically denied having cooked up any scandal when he was given the list, and only learned much later that it was a hoax. A tribunal of three judges believed that position, clearing de Villepin of charges that included complicity to slander, use of forgeries and stolen property, and breach of trust. Three other defendants in the case, however, were convicted for their roles in composing and circulating the fake list. "After many years of torment, my innocence has been recognized," a solemn but relieved-looking de Villepin said outside the same courtroom where Marie-Antoinette was sentenced to the guillotine in 1793. "I harbor no rancor. I want to turn the page."

Sarkozy responded to the verdict in a communiqué that stated he was "serene" and satisfied with the court's decision. "I will not appeal it," he said. (See 10 things to do in Paris.)

But can the old foes really forget? A longtime supporter and adviser to Chirac, de Villepin shares his former boss's hatred of Sarkozy. While still president, Chirac urged de Villepin to position himself as a possible leader in part to block the popular Sarkozy.

But before that happened, de Villepin, then Foreign Minister, came into the forged list containing Sarkozy's name. Once that was leaked to and investigated by the French media, Sarkozy found himself cast in the role of victim of an apparent conspiracy to wreck his political career. (Read: "Sarkozy Backs Appointment of Son to Key Job.")

Those roles have since reversed. Sarkozy went on to capture the presidency, and eventually became a civil party to the criminal case built against de Villepin. Both Sarkozy and the politically appointed prosecutor in the case violated presumption of innocence rules by referring to de Villepin as guilty before the trial had even ended.

De Villepin himself then painted an image of a political show trial by declaring his troubles were due to "the dogged determination of one man, Nicolas Sarkozy" — who, de Villepin reminded journalists covering the trial, had once pledged to "hang up whoever did this to me from a butcher's hook". Little wonder, then, that even in claiming to turn the page, de Villepin made his view clear that he'd survived Sarkozy's political assassination attempt. "I salute the courage of the tribunal, which allowed justice and law to prevail over politics," the silvery-haired de Villepin said after the verdict. "I now want to turn to the future to serve the French people and continue, with a unifying spirit, to help France recover."

Recover from what? "Sarkozy," says a former political adviser to conservative politicians who asks to remain anonymous. Now "de Villepin will be gunning for" the president "with his honor restored and with his hatred magnified by 10. From here out, de Villepin will attack every move Sarkozy makes and position himself as a rival candidate in 2012 to defeat Sarkozy for the presidency — or at least guarantee he thwarts his re-election by dividing the right." (See the top 10 political sex scandals.)

In other words, the legal bout of the de Villepin-Sarkozy slug-fest may be over, but the lack of a knock-out for either combatant means both will take their fight back to the cage-match brawling of politics.

Read: "Sarkozy and Villepin: A Tale of Two Classes."

See pictures of Paris.