Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced on appeal to three years in prison for a corruption offense committed in 2014, two of which have been commuted. This sentence confirms the same punishment for which he was sentenced. March 2021 in the first instance.
Although Sarkozy is the first French head of state to be sentenced to an effective prison term, he is not expected to go to jail immediately. The court established that he would be able to serve his sentence under house arrest and electronic surveillance via a bracelet.
Sarkozy, who retired from active political life in 2016 but remains influential among French conservatives, is expected to appeal to the Supreme Court, meaning he may not yet be forced to serve his sentence Will be done.
In March 2021, two years after leaving power, the former president was first sentenced to three years in prison for a crime committed in 2014, with two years to be served off. According to the sentence, Sarkozy would have used his influence to obtain an advantage in another case.
During an appeals hearing last December, the prosecutor’s office requested a reduction in Sarkozy’s sentence with three years of exemption from compliance. However, the court has taken a tougher stand in relation to the former president.
Two years after leaving the Elysee Palace, Sarkozy tried to obtain court support from a high-ranking magistrate, an action that came to light due to wiretaps conducted as part of another investigation.
In addition to Sarkozy, the court also sentenced two other defendants: Sarkozy’s lawyer, Thierry Herzog, received a prison sentence of three years, two of which are exempt from serving, and three years barred from practicing his profession. has been banned from doing. , While Magistrate Gilbert Azibert was given the same sentence with deprivation of civil rights for three years. None of them will go to jail.
The sentence is particularly strong for Sarkozy because, as explained by the president of the court, “he took advantage of his position as ex-president (…) to obtain personal gain.” The case, he said, “undermines the trust that citizens can legitimately place in the judicial system.”
Although Sarkozy has consistently denied his guilt, he now has only the option of going to the Supreme Court to prove it. You have five days to file your appeal.
The judicial ruling represents a new blow to the man who led France between 2007 and 2012. Sarkozy has already been sentenced to one year in prison in September 2021 for irregular financing of his election campaign for the 2012 presidential elections. He has also appealed this second sentence, which will be decided next December.
In addition, Sarkozy is facing a third legal front, as the national financial prosecutor’s office recently requested his presence for the alleged financing of his 2007 presidential campaign with money from the Libyan regime of Muammar Gaddafi.
