Former official of Elf Aquitaine boycotts trial

The central figure in a high-profile corruption trial involving a former French foreign minister, his mistress, her other lover and four disgraced business executives stamped out of court yesterday. "I cannot express myself properly," Mr Alfred Sirven said. "This is not a fair trial. I have nothing more to say." Thereupon, he retreated to La Sante prison.

Mr Sirven (74) was arrested in the Philippines last month and extradited to France, after fleeing justice for nearly four years. The former deputy director of the Elf Aquitaine oil company stands accused of embezzling billions of French francs from the then state-owned company, some of which he allegedly used to bribe French officials, including Mr Roland Dumas, who was France's foreign minister.

Since the trial started in January, Mr Dumas, his former mistress, Ms Christine Deviers-Joncour, and the other defendants blamed all wrong-doing on Mr Sirven. They reconfirmed their accusations in court yesterday. Mr Sirven had boasted that he could "bring down the Republic 20 times over" and his refusal to talk was a disappointment.

The last witness, the former financial director of Elf, is to testify today, after which summations will begin.

The prosecutor, Mr Jean-Pierre Champrenault, was infuriated by Mr Sirven's boycott of proceedings, warning him that silence would not help his case - or his chances of avoiding a five-year prison sentence and a fine of up to two million francs (£240,096). `Your flight did not make you some sort of mythical hero," Mr Champrenault said. "Your decision not to speak is not an act of bravura, it is an act of cowardice."

The trial resumed on Monday after a month's recess intended to give Mr Sirven time to prepare his defence. His lawyers spent four hours arguing for a mistrial on the grounds that since Elf was not privatised until 1993, the successor company could not sue those who defrauded it.

Mr Sirven claims that under President Mitterrand, Elf was a secret arm of the French government rather than a business interest. He insists that a related case involving the $2.7 billion sale of six French frigates to Taiwan cannot be dissociated from the present trial.

Magistrates believe Mr Sirven hired Ms Deviers-Joncour - who received more than 64 million francs (£7.68 million) from Elf - as an indirect way of bribing Mr Dumas to approve the sale to Taiwan, which was under an arms embargo at the time. Mr Dumas eventually agreed to the sale but claims that his mistress's "lobbying" on behalf of Mr Sirven was unconnected with his change of heart.