02 March,2009 11:58 AM IST | | Agencies
Two papparazzi, Marc-Antoine Moretto and Kamel Bahaj, have been accused of trying to sell recordings of French First Lady Carla Bruni's intimate conversations to two magazines, the newspaper Le Monde reported.
The pair allegedly tapped Bruni's phone in February 2006 - almost two years before she married President Nicolas Sarkozy, the paper said.
At the time the former supermodel was still in a relationship with Raphael Enthoven, the father of her eight-year-old son, Aurelian.
Details of Bruni's conversation were not revealed, but a police source described the recordings as "intimate discussions with friends and family made on her private mobile phone".
The two men under investigation also allegedly obtained recordings of mobile phone conversations of the French singer Patrick Bruel.
Paris detectives arrested Moretto and Bahaj earlier this month after an 18-month investigation, but details of the police action have only now been reported.
The pair have been charged with invasion of the First Lady's privacy and are due to appear in court later this year.
French privacy laws are notoriously tough and the media has traditionally respected the right of public figures to a private life.
