Nicolas Sarkozy refuses to answer questions at trial of former aides

Ex-president, ordered to testify as a witness, says he is accountable to the French people, not to a court'

Nicolas Sarkozy has appeared in court as the first former French president to be ordered to testify as a witness - but refused point blank to answer any questions.

It is an essential principle of democracies known as the separation of powers, and as president of the Republic I do not have to account for the organisation of my office or the way in which I exercised my mandate," he told the court in Paris on Tuesday.