"Nicolas Sarkozy will be omnipresent in this trial" despite his absence in court, says Jérôme Karsenti, lawyer for the anti-corruption agency Anticor, as the trial over the so-called Elysee polls affair opens in Paris. Sarkozy's former advisors are suspected of having commissioned numerous opinion polls without respecting public procurement rules during his presidency. Protected by his presidential immunity, the former head of state was called as a witness by the prosecution, but he won't be present in court. SOUNDBITE