French government on defensive over Sarkozy phone-taps

French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira holds copies of the wiretapping memos during a news conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris, March 12, 2014. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer

PARIS (Reuters) - France's justice minister on Wednesday defied calls for her to quit after it emerged that she knew former President Nicolas Sarkozy's phone was being tapped, apparently contradicting an earlier statement from her.

Sarkozy's opposition conservatives accuse the government of using the surveillance, ordered as part of a party funding inquiry, to discredit them before this month's local elections in which President Francois Hollande's Socialists risk losing ground.