Sentenced in the wiretapping affair on December 18, the former president will not wear an electronic bracelet when he comes to court this Monday, January 6 for the opening of the trial on charges of illegal financing of his 2007 campaign by the Libya of dictator Muammar Gaddafi. It is, however, possible that it will be asked during the trial which is expected to last four months.
The punishment has not yet been implemented. Definitively sentenced to one year in prison under an electronic bracelet in the wiretapping affair, Nicolas Sarkozy will not wear this object of surveillance on the occasion of the opening this Monday, January 6 of the trial relating to suspicions of Libyan financing of his victorious 2007 campaign.
His trial being scheduled until April 10, it is however possible that the former President of the Republic will end up appearing before the judges with his electronic bracelet.
In detail, the latter must first go before the sentence enforcement judge (JAP) within a maximum period of one month, from the notification and transmission of his judgment to the latter. Please note that this deadline is indicative; non-compliance does not result in any sanction. To date, Nicolas Sarkozy has not seen the JAP, nor received a summons to this effect, according to information from BFMTV.
Once he has set the terms of his electronic bracelet, a date is planned for the installation of the device. According to a source close to the case, it takes four months from the moment the conviction becomes enforceable.
This measure will apply due to the final conviction of Nicolas Sarkozy, on December 18, in the wiretapping affair for corruption and influence peddling. An unprecedented sanction for a former head of state. If the latter has referred the matter to the European Court of Human Rights, this referral does not prevent the provisional execution of the sentences imposed.
A heavy legal agenda
In this case, Nicolas Sarkozy was found guilty of having entered into a “corruption pact” with Gilbert Azibert, senior magistrate at the Court of Cassation, in 2014, alongside his historic lawyer Thierry Herzog, so that he would transmit information and tries to influence an appeal filed by Nicolas Sarkozy in the Bettencourt affair.
Concerning the trial which opens this Monday at the Paris court, the founder of LR (ex-UMP) must answer to accusations of illegal financing of his 2007 campaign by Muammar Gaddafi's Libya.
Furthermore, Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced on appeal on February 14, 2024 for illegal campaign financing to one year of imprisonment including six months under an electronic bracelet in the Bygmalion affair, over excessive spending during his lost 2012 presidential campaign. He then appealed to the Court of Cassation.
The former right-wing strongman was also indicted, in October 2023, in the investigation into possible fraudulent maneuvers to rule out suspicions of Libyan financing. Finally, he is the subject of investigations, concerning his lucrative consulting activities in Russia, but also the attribution of the 2022 football world championship to Qatar.
Pauline Revenaz with Baptiste Farge
