Sarkozy corruption case 'suspended'

A French court has suspended a corruption and influence-peddling investigation against former President Nicolas Sarkozy. The BBC writes:

Mr Sarkozy, 59, is still facing several other judicial investigations.

Last week he said he would seek the leadership of the opposition UMP party - the move widely seen as a first step towards a presidential bid in 2017.

His announcement ended months of speculation about the intentions of the conservative former president, who vowed to give up politics after he failed to be re-elected in 2012.

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy said he "had had no choice" but to return to politics, stating that he had never seen such "despair" in France. France24 reports:

In a 45-minute primetime television interview on France 2, Sarkozy outlined his bid to lead the opposition UMP party and launched a scathing attack on Socialist President François Hollande.

“I don’t want my country to be condemned to the humiliating state of affairs that we have today or the perspective of total isolation'' that he predicts will happen if France's far-right National Front party continues its rise.

“I’ve never seen such anger or such a lack of perspective in France. Staying on the sidelines as a spectator would be to abandon my country.” Sarkozy said. "Not only do I want (to come back), but I had no choice."

The former president described France as "one of the rare countries where there is a lack of hope." "Can I just say: France is collapsing, people don't believe in politics anymore, my political party (the opposition UMP) is divided like never before -- so should I simply stay at home?," he asked in the television interview.

Sarkozy then launched an attack on his Socialist rival Hollande, to whom he lost the 2012 presidential election, claiming that while he had never lied to the French people during his five years in office, Hollande "has left a long list of lies" behind him. "He is his own prosecutor," Sarkozy declared. Hollande is floundering with zero-growth, soaring unemployment, a bulging deficit and record unpopularity.