拉加德將在法國出庭受審 Lagarde faces trial over Tapie payment

A French court has ordered Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, to face trial over her role in a disputed 400m payout made to businessman Bernard Tapie in 2008.

法國一家法庭命令國際貨幣基金組織(IMF)總裁克里斯蒂娜拉加德(Christine Lagarde)出庭受審，原因是她曾參與在2008年向商人伯納德吠皮(Bernard Tapie)支付受到質疑的4億歐元。

Ms Lagarde, who was French finance minister at the time, has for years denied wrongdoing in the affair that has entangled several members of the cabinet of former president Nicolas Sarkozy.

多年來，時任法國財政部長的拉加德一直否認在這件事上有不當行爲，此案涉及法國前總統尼古拉薩科齊(Nicolas Sarkozy)的多名內閣成員。

She appeared to have won the day in September when prosecutors argued that the case against her should be dropped.

今年9月，她似乎取得勝利，當時檢方主張，針對她的指控應撤銷。

But France’s Cour de Justice de la République, a special tribunal set up to try ministers, said yesterday that she would in fact stand trial over the affair. Ms Lagarde is accused of negligence in public office in relation to misuse of public funds, an offence that carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a fine of up to ㄠ5,000.

但專門審理部長級官員案件的法國特別法庭——共和國司法法院(Cour de justice de la République)昨日表示，拉加德仍須因爲此案出庭受審。拉加德被控在擔任公職期間玩忽職守，濫用公款，這一指控的最重懲罰是一年監禁和最高1.5萬歐元罰金。

The decision to put the IMF chief on trial is the latest twist in the 22-year legal saga.

讓拉加德受審的決定是這起長達22年的司法案件的最新曲折。

It concerns more than 400m paid out to Mr Tapie by the French government in 2008 in compensation after he claimed he was defrauded by Crédit Lyonnais, at that point a state-owned bank, into selling his stake in sports equipment company Adidas for less than it was worth in 1993.

此案涉及法國政府在2008年向塔皮支付逾4億歐元賠償，此前塔皮聲稱，1993年，當時身爲國有銀行的里昂信貸銀行(Crédit Lyonnais)欺騙他以低於市場價位的價格出售了他在運動器材公司阿迪達斯(Adidas)的股權。

The French state had long fought against the compensation claim, but abruptly changed tack and ordered an arbitration. Critics claimed the payout — approved by Ms Lagarde — was rigged to reward Mr Tapie, a former socialist, for backing Mr Sarkozy’s election campaign.

法國政府曾長期抗辯索賠請求，但突然改變做法，下令進行仲裁。批評者稱，這筆付款（由拉加德批准）受到操縱，是爲了回報前社會黨人士塔皮對薩科齊競選活動的支持。

Earlier this month, however, the Paris appeal court ruled Mr Tapie had to pay back the money he received from the French state. He had been arguing the payout should have been higher.

然而，本月早些時候，巴黎上訴法庭裁決，塔皮必須退回他從法國政府拿到的賠償。塔皮此前辯稱，賠償金額本應更高。

Ms Lagarde’s office said she “would like to reaffirm that she acted in the best interest of the French state and in full compliance with the law”.

拉加德辦公室表示，她“希望重申，她的所作所爲符合法國國家的最佳利益，而且完全合法。”

The IMF said its executive board “continues to express its confidence in the managing director’s ability to effectively carry out her duties”.

IMF表示，其執行董事會“繼續表示相信這位總裁有效履行職責的能力”。