The former French president had his three-year prison sentence confirmed in the second instance. He could, however, serve his sentence under house arrest The former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced this Wednesday (17/05), in the second instance, to three years’ imprisonment, in the context of the so-called “wiretapping case”, which it concerns corruption and influence trading committed in 2014. He had already been convicted of the same crime in the first instance in March 2021.
The 68-year-old conservative, who led France between 2007 and 2012, has always denied the allegations and said he was the victim of a witch hunt by prosecutors who allegedly used excessive means to spy on his affairs.
However, Sarkozy, the first former French head of state sentenced to an effective prison sentence, will not be taken to prison, as the court specified in its sentence that he can serve his sentence under house arrest and with an electronic anklet. Two of the three years of the sentence remain suspended, according to the judge’s decision.
Sarkozy, 68, also lost his political rights for three years. Before him, Jacques Chirac (1995-2007), his predecessor and for years his political mentor, was sentenced to two years in prison for embezzlement, but openly.
Dressed in gray, with a serious face, Sarkozy, removed from the political front since 2016, but very influential among French conservatives, attended the reading of the sentence in the Paris court, which he left without making any statement.
His lawyer, Jaqueline Laffont, considered the sentence “disconcerting”, intended to give “lessons in morals, but not in law”, and confirmed that the defense will appeal to the Supreme Court and will go “all the way” to prove the first the innocence of the president…
During the appeal process, in December last year, the French public prosecutor’s office had asked for the reduction of that sentence, with three years of exemption from compliance, but with Sarkozy the court was tougher.
Influence trading and corruption
The wiretapping case stems from another case against Sarkozy, which involved suspicions that his campaign had received funding from Libya’s regime of Muammar Gaddafi during the 2007 presidential race.
Amidst this suspicion, justice decided to wiretap the former president’s phone, leading to the discovery of a secret line where Sarkozy used the alias “Paul Bismuth”. Some conversations revealed the existence of a “bribery pact”, according to prosecutors.
Together with his lawyer Thierry Herzog, Sarkozy allegedly tried to obtain secret information from another case through Judge Gilbert Azibert. Azibert is also said to have tried to influence his court companions. In exchange, Sarkozy would have promised the magistrate to help him obtain a coveted post in the State Council of Monaco.
The court also sentenced the other two defendants, Sarkozy’s lawyer Thierry Herzog, to three years’ imprisonment, two of which were exempt from the obligation, as well as three years of disqualification from practicing the profession; and Magistrate Gilbert Azibert to the same sentence with three years of disenfranchisement.
The sentence is particularly harsh on Sarkozy because, as the president of the court explained, “he took advantage of his status as ex president (…) to obtain a personal advantage”.
The case, he added, “attacks the trust that citizens can legitimately expect from the courts”.
This is a new judicial setback for Sarkozy, who was also sentenced to a year in prison in September 2021 for irregular campaign financing for the 2012 presidential election, when he unsuccessfully attempted re-election. The president also challenged this second sentence, which will be judged in second instance next November.
Sarkozy also faces a third legal front, given that last week the national financial prosecutor asked him to testify to clarify the financing of his 2007 presidential campaign with resources from the Libyan Gaddafi regime.
jps/cn (EFE, DW, ots)
Source: Terra
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