22 December 2006
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Paris - French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin was questioned for 17 hours until early on Friday by magistrates investigating an apparent smear campaign in 2004 against conservative presidential frontrunner Nicolas Sarkozy.
Villepin was heard as a witness, not a suspect, in the so-called Clearstream affair that revolves around faked bank accounts and hushed-up government probes.
"As far as I was concerned, I was very happy to be able to provide my testimony in this affair where for many months I have been the victim of calumny and lies," Villepin told reporters as he emerged from the Paris court room at about 3am (02h00 GMT).
As the article says, unlike our Tone, Dom is merely a witness. Although a 17 hour grilling would seem to be rather extreme for a witness unless he turns out to have an awful lot of information to provide. Perhaps the Vile Pin has been spilling the beans on some others?