A Paris appeals court today acquitted former French foreign minister Mr Roland Dumas on charges stemming from a corruption scandal at the formerly state-owned oil group Elf.
At his original trial in 2001, Mr Dumas, now 80, had been ordered to serve six months in prison for receiving illegal gifts from his ex-mistress, Christine Deviers-Joncour, but the appeals court threw out that conviction.
Former Elf president Loik Le Floch-Prigent, who did not attend today's hearing, was sentenced to 30 months in prison, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Mr Le Floch-Prigent's former deputy Mr Alfred Sirven - the mastermind of a multimillion-dollar Elf slush fund, who has been in jail for two years - was given a three-year jail sentence. Ms Deviers-Joncour, who has already spent six months in prison, was sentenced to 18 months in jail and given a suspended sentence of another 12 months.
"I am happy that I have been given justice," Mr Dumas said shortly after the court's decision was announced.
AFP