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Former French President Jacques Chirac is refusing to be questioned in an investigation into an apparent smear scandal during his tenure as president.
Investigating judges want to question Chirac about the so-called Clearstream affair, his office said in a statement.
The murky scandal centered on damaging but false allegations that current President Nicolas Sarkozy -- a onetime Chirac protege who later became a political rival -- had secret bank accounts.
Chirac's office said that, because he enjoyed constitutionally guaranteed judicially immunity while he was president, he cannot "be ordered to provide testimony" about incidents that happened during his tenure.
The former president wrote to the investigating judges to inform them of his position, the statement said.
Chirac faces a slew of potential legal problems now that he no longer has presidential immunity, which expired a week ago.
He handed over power to Sarkozy on 16th May.
While the 74-year-old Chirac is unlikely to go to jail, the legal woes are an embarrassing coda to his 40-year political career.
Chirac faces a more complex dilemma with three other legal cases that his name has been linked to, since they involve his time as Paris mayor from 1977-1995, before he became president.
Friday's statement said Chirac was "at the disposition" of the judges investigating events before his 1995-2007 presidential tenure.
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