The former French president was found guilty of having entered into a “corruption pact” with a senior magistrate of the Court of Cassation to influence legal proceedings against him.
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Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced to three years in prison, including one year with an electronic bracelet, in the so-called ‘Bismuth’ affair.
With his lawyer Thierry Herzog, the former head of state was found guilty of having concluded in 2014 a “corruption pact” with Gilbert Azibert, senior magistrate at the Court of Cassationto obtain information and influence another case in which he was involved, the Bettencourt affair.
In exchange, the former French president would have promised a “boost” to Gilbert Azibert for obtaining an important position in Monaco.
The three men were sentenced to three years in prison, accompanied by three years of ineligibility for the former president.t and a ban of the same duration for Thierry Herzog from practicing his work as a lawyer.
Nicolas Sarkozy’s lawyer specifies that his client “will refer the matter to the European Court of Human Rights in the coming weeks, in order to obtain the guarantee of rights that French judges have denied it”while ensuring that it “will obviously comply” to his final sentence to the electronic bracelet.
The former president, however, refuses to accept what he describes as“profound injustice” and states that “the truth will ultimately triumph”.
A decision contested by the defense
The Court of Cassation, the high French court responsible for ensuring the proper application of the law, thus excluded any judicial irregularity in this long-term trial.
And this, while Emmanuel Piwnica, lawyer for Thierry Herzog, believes that the case was tainted by“illegalities”of “shortcomings” and“violations of fundamental rights”.
Defense lawyers particularly contest the legality of wiretapping Nicolas Sarkozyaffirming that his private exchanges with Thierry Herzog cannot be “used against him”.
“Nicolas Sarkozy cannot be criminally convicted on the basis of exchanges he had with his lawyer”asserts his lawyer Patrice Spinosi, invoking a judgment of the European Court of Human Rights dating from June 16, 2016.
This decision comes asa new trial against Nicolas Sarkozy will open on January 6, to examine suspicions of Libyan financing of his 2007 presidential campaign.
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