Suspended sentence call for French ex-PM

October 21, 2009

French ex-prime minister Dominique de Villepin accused President Nicolas Sarkozy of hanging him on a "butcher's hook" Tuesday after prosecutors called for an 18-month suspended sentence against him. The 55-year-old career diplomat is charged with conspiring in 2004 to discredit Sarkozy and derail his presidential bid at a time when the two men were jostling to succeed president Jacques Chirac. Duration: 01:12