Former French prime minister Edouard Balladur goes on trial on Tuesday (today) on charges that he used kickbacks from arms deals in the 1990s to fund a presidential bid. — Reuters/File PARIS: Former French prime minister Edouard Balladur goes on trial on Tuesday (today) on charges that he used kickbacks from arms deals in the 1990s to fund a presidential bid, a case known as the “Karachi affair”. Balladur, 91, joins a long list of senior French politicians pursued for alleged financial wrongdoing, including former president Nicolas Sarkozy and his predecessor, Jacques Chirac. The conservative ex-premier will be tried by the Court of Justice of the Republic in Paris, a tribunal dedicated to hearing cases of ministerial misconduct.