PARIS
A Paris court has suspended a graft probe into former President Nicolas Sarkozy, days after he announced he will stand in the 2017 election.
Sarkozy had been under investigation since July on suspicion of seeking inside information on himself from a magistrate in return for helping the magistrate take over a prestigious position in Monaco.
French daily Le Monde reported Tuesday that the Court of Appeal had frozen the probe. The suspension could last several months.
The suspension comes with Sarkozy announcing a political comeback on his Facebook page, having said Friday he will run in the 2017 French presidential race.
In July, Sarkozy, his lawyer, Thierry Herzog and judge Gilbert Azibert, from the Court of Cassation and the High Court of Appeal, respectively, were put under investigation on charges of corruption and the misuse of influence as part of a probe into the alleged illegal financing of his 2007 presidential campaign by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
However, Sarkozy is still facing several other judicial investigations, including claims that his UMP party inflated invoices for 11 million euros to cover up outlays on campaign spending cap in 2012.
The case led Chairman of UMP Jean-Francois Cope to resign last May.
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