French judge to rule whether Chirac to attend trial

PARIS (Reuters) - A long-delayed trial into misuse of public funds by former French president Jacques Chirac opens on Monday, but a senior neurologist has advised the frail 78-year-old is not well enough to attending hearings.

Chirac is accused of embezzling public money to fund his political party via phantom jobs at Paris Town Hall while he was mayor between 1977 and 1995, the year he was elected head of state.

Chirac will not be present at a procedural hearing on Monday afternoon that kicks off the trial and judge Dominique Pauthe will examine a medical assessment that found him mentally unfit to be questioned about events so far in the past.

The allegations have hung over Chirac since he lost his presidential immunity in 2007. After years of delays and legal obstacles, a final hurdle was lifted in June and the trial was due to go ahead even though Chirac and the ruling conservative UMP party had offered to pay money to settle the case.

Pauthe could ask for a second medical evaluation, postpone the trial again or drop it altogether. Politicians of all persuasions have called for the trial, but to spare Chirac -- one of France's longest-serving presidents and fondly regarded across the country -- from having to attend.

Chirac's wife Bernadette has said for some time her husband has memory problems which could be linked to a small stroke he suffered several years ago.

The neurologist's report submitted to the court this week argues he is not up to attending court.

CROSS-PARTY SYMPATHY

The ruling conservative UMP party, centrists and opposition leftists all reacted sympathetically to the medical concerns.

"The trial must happen but his presence is not essential," Patrick Devedjian, a UMP politician and former lawyer for Chirac, told Europe 1 radio.

"Jacques Chirac has health problems. It's a fact. He could not go through the 13 hearings," Dominique de Villepin, a prime minister under Chirac, told Sunday's Journal du Dimanche weekly paper. "(The trial) will be useful even without his presence."

Chirac, who has repeatedly said he wants to stand trial, appeared in good spirits over the summer, photographed sipping a pina colada cocktail in the resort of St. Tropez.

But speculation is rife over his mental acuity, with French media reporting a deterioration in his responsiveness and verbal agility -- and most notable an unawareness of his inability to recall facts.

"If he is not present, there will be enough testimony for us to know what happened without needing to inflict this difficulty upon Jacques Chirac," Francois Hollande, the Socialist favourite for the 2012 presidential election, said at the weekend.

Chirac's camp has not asked for the trial to be called off but his lawyers also feel he may not be competent to attend.

Chirac is accused of misuse of public funds, abuse of trust and incurring illegal gains, in events dating back to between 1992 and 1995 and linked to 28 allegedly phantom town hall jobs.

On trial with nine co-defendants, he could face up to 10 years in prison and a 150,000 euro (131,000 pound) fine if found guilty, but would more likely be handed a suspended sentence.

President from 1995 to 2007, Chirac was not expected to appear in person for the entire procedure but was due to attend key hearings of the trial, due to run until September 23.

"It makes me uncomfortable to see a president who has spent his life serving France in the dock so long after the event," Henri Guaino, an advisor to President Nicolas Sarkozy, told i>Tele at the weekend.

The trial would mark the first time since World War Two that a former French head of state has appeared in court on criminal charges.

(Reporting by Thierry Leveque and Elizabeth Pineau; Writing by Catherine Bremer; Editing by Matthew Jones)