A Paris appeals court ruled that ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy was guilty of illegal campaign financing over his failed 2012 re-election bid, confirming a previous ruling by a lower court, but his lawyer said he would take his case to France’s highest court.
Sarkozy was sentenced to a one-year prison sentence yesterday, half of which suspended, that can be served through alternative means such as wearing an electronic bracelet without going to jail.
Sarkozy, aged 69, had been handed a one-year prison sentence in 2021 when first found guilty, though that was suspended while he launched his appeal. The new appeal will again mean the sentence is placed on hold.
“Today’s ruling is highly questionable, that is why we will appeal to the Cour de Cassation,” his lawyer Vincent Desry told reporters, reiterating that Sarkozy was innocent.
The Cour de Cassation is the country’s highest court and its rulings typically focus on whether the law has been applied correctly rather than on the facts of the case. Procedures to the court can take years.
Sarkozy was in court yesterday to hear the verdict but left without commenting himself to waiting reporters.
President from 2007 to 2012, Sarkozy has remained an influential figure among conservatives and is on friendly terms with President Emmanuel Macron - despite a string of trials and investigations linked to various legal issues surrounding his campaign finances.
He has always denied accusations that his party Les Republicains, then known as the UMP, worked with a public relations firm named Bygmalion to hide the true cost of his campaign -- marked by lavish show events previously unseen in French politics.
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