Chirac Found Guilty in Political Funding Case

Mr. Chirac, who did not attend the trial because of reported health and memory problems, received a two-year suspended sentence from the judges.

While beloved by many as a grandfather figure, Mr. Chirac will inevitably see his reputation stained. He is the first former French head of state to be prosecuted, let alone convicted, since Marshal Philippe Pétain, who collaborated with the Nazis and was found guilty of treason in 1945.

“Your moral and political responsibility is immense,” said a lawyer for Mr. Chirac, Georges Kiejman, to the judges, while pleading for acquittal. “Your judgment will be the last image given of Jacques Chirac.”

But the conviction was also regarded by many as a victory for justice against France’s entrenched political elite. “We’ve seen a strong message delivered today: politicians can no longer do as they please when in charge of public administrations,” said Jérôme Karsenti, a lawyer for the anticorruption group, Anticor, which became the prime plaintiff in the case.

In its ruling, the court said that, “Jacques Chirac breached the duty of trust that weighs on public officials charged with caring for public funds or property, in contempt of the general interest of Parisians.”

Mr. Chirac had denied all the charges, which stem from his period as mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995, when he was elected president. The case involved channeling some $1.8 million from the City of Paris to pay for at least 21 people who were actually engaged in national party politics as Mr. Chirac prepared to run for the presidency.

The trial went forward despite the prosecution’s call for an acquittal. The City of Paris dropped its complaint against Mr. Chirac in return for a payment of $2.86 million, of which $650,000 was provided by Mr. Chirac and the rest by the governing Union for a Popular Movement party, the successor to Mr. Chirac’s party, the Rally for the Republic. But Anticor persisted with the case.

Ten people were on trial. Two were acquitted. The rest received suspended sentences of a few months. Mr. Chirac had been protected by immunity from all prosecutions while he was president of France, and after he left office in 2007, his lawyers fought to avoid a trial.

The Socialist Party hailed the verdict and has called for the repeal of political immunity. The Socialist candidate, François Hollande, commented on Twitter that “justice has been done and had to be done, so that a sense of impunity does not take hold.”

President Nicolas Sarkozy, who served as a minister under Mr. Chirac, took note of his predecessor’s conviction and said he would not comment on the verdict of justice. But he said in a statement that, “these circumstances should not allow us to forget Jacques Chirac’s constant engagement in the service of France, which earns him and will continue to earn him the esteem of the French people.”

The current foreign minister, Alain Juppé, was a deputy financial adviser to Mr. Chirac at city hall and was general secretary of his party. Mr. Juppé was convicted in 2004 on similar charges, receiving an 18-month suspended jail sentence and losing the right to run for political office for 10 years. He appealed and had his sentence reduced.

Mr. Chirac faced maximum penalties of 10 years in prison and fines totalling $195,000. Mr. Kiejman, one of his lawyers, said that he would talk to Mr. Chirac, who received news of the verdict “with serenity,” about whether or not to appeal. Mr. Chirac is said by his doctors to be suffering from a form of memory loss.