Jacques Chirac to stand trial in second corruption case

Former president Chirac was immune from prosecution from 1995 to 2007

France's former president, Jacques Chirac, is to face a second corruption trial that could take place at the same time as the first case against him.

Mr Chirac, 77, is already due to stand trial in the spring on allegations of bogus jobs contracts dating back to his time as mayor of Paris.

Now officials say a judge in the Paris suburb of Nanterre has ordered him to face similar charges for "illegal conflict of interest".

He has always denied wrongdoing.

In 2004, former prime minister Alain Juppe was convicted of involvement in the phoney jobs scam during Mr Chirac's period as mayor and banned from political life for a year.

Throughout his time as president, from 1995 to 2007, Jacques Chirac was granted immunity from prosecution.

That immunity was lifted when he left office and the former president has since been the focus of several investigations.

Last month, the public prosecutor in Nanterre recommended that the second case against Mr Chirac be dropped but an investigating judge is now understood to have taken a different view.

The first trial, which involves allegations of breach of trust and embezzlement between 1992 and 1995, is due to go before magistrates in Paris in early March.

The second case which relates to allegations dating back to between 1990 and 1994 could take place concurrently.