- Lawyers for 69-year-old had asked the Paris Appeal Court to revoke his sentence
- Judges on Wednesday upheld the ruling and he is set to spent a year on a tag
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy today failed to overturn a criminal conviction and prison sentence for illegally funding his campaign for re-election.
Lawyers for the 69-year-old had asked the Paris Appeal Court to revoke his sentence of one year in jail with six months suspended, but judges on Wednesday upheld the ruling.
It followed a five-week trial at the city’s Correctional Court three years ago, when Sarkozy was found guilty of fiddling the books during his unsuccessful 2012 bid to become head of state.
Sarkozy, who was President of France for five years up until 2012, was present in court during the reading of the latest 244-page judgement.
A source close to the politician said he was ‘determined to defend himself’ so as to avoid going to prison.
France’s former president Nicolas Sarkozy (C-L) arrives for the verdict in his appeal trial in the so-called Bygmalion case, at the courthouse, in Paris, on February 14, 2024
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy (C) arrives to the courthouse to attend a hearing in his appeal trial at the Justice Palace in Paris, France, 14 February 2024
France’s former president Nicolas Sarkozy leaves after the verdict in his appeal trial in the so-called Bygmalion case
Rather than ending up in a cell, he is now likely to serve his sentence wearing an electronic tag at the Paris home he shares with his his third wife, the former model Carla Bruni, 56.
Sarkozy was originally in the dock with 13 associates in what is known as the ‘Bygmalion’ case in reference to the PR company allegedly used to hide financial corruption.
All were accused of spending almost twice the legal €22.5m (£19.4m) limit for the presidential campaign against François Hollande, of the French Socialist Party.
Three of the other defendants, who were connected to the PR agency Bygmalion, admitted producing fake receipts.
Sarkozy, a right-wing conservative whose party was called the UMP (Union for a Popular Movement) always denied any wrongdoing.
The court heard that officials close to Sarkozy came up with the idea of setting up bogus ‘conventions’ that would appear on false invoices.
Accountants warned Sarkozy that the campaign was set to overtake the €22.5m spending limit, but that he insisted on holding more events, according to prosecutors.
Rather than ending up in a cell, he is now likely to serve his sentence wearing an electronic tag at the Paris home he shares with his his third wife, the former model Carla Bruni, 56 (pictured)
FILE PHOTO: (L-R) Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, President Nicolas Sarkozy, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Charles, Prince of Wales arrive at the Elysee Palace for a private banquet on November 10, 2008 in Paris, France
The campaign eventually spent nearly €43m – the equivalent of £37m – but Sarkozy still lost to Mr Hollande.
In March 2021, Sarkozy was also convicted of corruption and influence peddling and sentenced to three years in prison, two of them suspended.
Sarkozy is also facing a trial over allegations that he received millions in laundered money from the late Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
Sarkozy’s conservative predecessor as President of France, the late Jacques Chirac, received a two-year suspended sentence in 2011 for corruption, but this related to his time as Mayor of Paris.
The last French head of state to go to a prison cell was Marshall Philippe Pétain, the wartime Nazi collaborator.
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