Sarkozy's wife sues over nude photo on shopping bag

Dec 12, 2008, 11:02 GMT

Paris - France's First Lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, is going to court to prevent the sale of a shopping bag adorned with a photo of her in the nude, the online edition of the weekly Le Point reported on Friday.

Bruni-Sarkozy's attorney, Thierry Herzog, said the bag - which is made by the Pardon company based on the island of La Reunion - damages her image, which was used without her consent.

'We will ask for a ban on the sale of this article and 125,000 euros (166,000 dollars) in damages,' Herzog said. The money, if it is awarded, will be donated to charity, he added.

Executives at Pardon justified the use of Bruni-Sarkozy's photo by saying that she was 'a public woman.'

A court in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis is scheduled to examine the complaint on Monday.

The bag shows Bruni-Sarkozy, a former top model, posing nude but with her hands modestly covering her pubic region. A voice balloon has her saying, 'My guy should have bought me a Pardon.'

The black-and-white photograph was taken by photographer Michel Comte and sold at auction in April, for 91,000 dollars, to an anonymous bidder.

According to the Pardon web site, the bags are given away for free to those who shop at one of the company's shops on the island, but will soon be on sale in mainland France.