Paris, Oct 19 (AFP) French President Nicolas Sarkozy sent his lawyer to court today to make the case for convicting ex-prime minister Dominique de Villepin on charges of plotting to smear him and damage his presidential bid.

The trial of Villepin and four others entered its final week with Thierry Herzog addressing judges on behalf of the president before final summaries by the defence and prosecution in the month-long hearings.

"Did Dominique de Villepin conspire in 2004 to slander? The answer is yes," Herzog told the Paris criminal court.

Dressed in a black robe, the burly bespectacled Herzog said he was convinced that Villepin "colluded and agreed" with two co-defendants to discredit Sarkozy with falsified documents linking him to a corruption scandal.

The complex case centres on a fake list of account holders from the Clearstream financial clearing house who were said to have received kickbacks from the sale of French warships to Taiwan.