France’s Justice Minister, Christiane Taubira, is defying calls for her to quit after it was revealed she did know former president Nicolas Sarkozy was having his phone tapped.<br /><br />On Monday she had denied any knowledge. By Tuesday, the Prime Minister admitted they had both known last month.<br /><br />“No I did not lie. For several days, and particularly over the last 24 hours, I’ve heard paragons of virtue and justice calling for my resignation, and I can give them my response right now: no, I am not resigning,” Taubira said.<br /><br /> It was recently leaked to the media that Sarkozy had his phone tapped for the past year as part of an investigation into alleged campaign donations from Libya.<br /><br /> The phone taps apparently revealed evidence that the ex-President was getting confidential information from a senior prosecutor about cases against him.<br /><br />The Socialist government had welcomed the news just before local elections later this month.<br /><br />Now the tables have turned and the opposition right-leaning UMP party accuse the government of “political espionage” and manipulating the justice system to hound Sarkozy and discredit him.
