Sarkozy awaits crucial ruling for his political future
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France's highest court decides Tuesday whether wiretaps of phone conversations between Nicolas Sarkozy and his main lawyer are legal, a much-anticipated ruling that could pave the way for a corruption trial against the former president.
Sarkozy is expected to seek the conservative nomination to run for president again next year, but the possibility of a trial could hamper his bid.
The opposition leader is under preliminary charges of corruption and influence-peddling based on information gleaned from judicial phone taps in 2013-2014. His lawyers have argued the wiretapping was carried out in breach of lawyer-client privilege.
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If the top court upholds the legality of most of the phone taps and ensuing evidence, as the prosecutor has asked them to do, the preliminary charges will stand against Sarkozy.