Former Prime Minister Alain Juppe, a close associate of
Chirac, sent a twitter message wishing him a prompt recovery.
Jean-Luc Barre, un historien et ecrivain qui a aide Jacques
Chirac a rediger ses memoires, a pourtant declare hier mardi a Reuters que Jacques
Chirac ne donnait pas dans l'humour.
It sentenced him to two years in prison, suspended because of his age, in a 20-year-old case, dealing with phantom jobs at the municipality of Paris when
Chirac was mayor there in 1995.
But
Chirac, 79, did not take part in the trial after doctors determined that he suffers severe memory lapses.
In the absence of the 79-year-old who ruled from 1995 until 2007, the judge declared
Chirac guilty and handed down a suspended two-year jail sentence.
Chirac, who served as French President for 12 years, between 1995 to 2007, was put on trial on charges that dated back to his time as mayor of Paris - from 1977 to 1995 - for paying members of his Rally for the Republic (RPR) party for municipal jobs that did not exist.
Chirac, whose party long enjoyed particularly warm ties with the autocratic rulers of former colonies, is on trial at present on charges of misusing public funds when he was mayor of Paris.
Robert Bourgi, a lawyer who advised
Chirac and Villepin before switching loyalties to work with President Nicolas Sarkozy, claimed that he shuttled between African countries including Burkina Faso, Congo, Gabon, Ivory Coast and Senegal for over 25 years to bring up to 15 million francs in cash.
Chirac is the first French former head of state to face criminal charges since the leader of the collaborationist wartime regime, Marshal Philippe Petain, was convicted of treason after World War II.
Chirac issued a statement to say he was just having fun when he said on Saturday he would back Socialist candidate Francois Hollande and that his remarks had been misinterpreted.