SARKOZY TRIAL OVER CAMPAIGN FINANCE STARTS IN PARIS

After a false start in March, the trial of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy on allegations of exaggerated election campaign costs got underway in Paris on Thursday, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

The 66-year-old did not appear in court, however, and was represented by his lawyer, as the news channel Franceinfo and other French media reported. All the other 13 defendants, however, came to the new Paris Palace of Justice.

The court adjourned the trial immediately after it began about two months ago because one defendant's lawyer was being treated in hospital. Sarkozy, who was in power from 2007 to 2012, is accused of having illegally financed the campaign for his re-election in 2012.

If convicted, he could face a prison sentence of one year and a fine of 3,750 euros ($4,580.) He has denied the accusations. According to media reports, Sarkozy is not expected to appear in court until mid-June.

The former president was sentenced to three years in prison, two of them suspended, for bribery and undue influence in another case at the beginning of March.

No president of France since 1958 has received similar legal punishment. Sarkozy has announced that he will appeal the March conviction.

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