Definitely condemned, is Nicolas Sarkozy at risk of losing his Legion of Honor?

Wednesday 18th December 2024 02:00 PM

There could be another consequence to the final conviction of Nicolas Sarkozy this Wednesday by the Court of Cassation. The ex-president received a three-year prison sentence, including two years suspended and one year under an electronic bracelet for corruption and influence peddling in the wiretapping affair. The person concerned denounced an “injustice” and announced his intention to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

VideoWiretapping affair: Nicolas Sarkozy sentenced to one year under electronic bracelet

This conviction could also imply for Nicolas Sarkozy a withdrawal of his Legion of Honor. The latter was decorated with the title of Grand Cross – the highest award – in 2007, during his investiture at the Élysée.

Article R91 of the Code of the Legion of Honor provides that “the following are excluded from the order: people convicted of crimes; those sentenced to a non-suspended prison sentence of one year or more.” This second scenario is the one in which Nicolas Sarkozy finds himself.

Article R106 then specifies that “exclusion and suspension are pronounced by decree of the President of the Republic”. A decision from Emmanuel Macron is therefore necessary. The exclusion is communicated to the Official Journal, indicates the following article. In application of article R110, “exclusion from the order of the Legion of Honor entails the definitive withdrawal of the right to wear the insignia of any French or foreign decoration belonging to the Grand Chancellery of the Legion of Honor” .

So far, only one French head of state has lost his Legion of Honor: Philippe Pétain. Other political figures such as the former Minister of the Interior Claude Guéant or the Balkany couple also lost their Legion of Honor.

In 2023, the Minister of Culture Rima Abdul Malak called for the withdrawal of the Legion of Honor from Gérard Depardieu, accused by several women of rape and sexual assault. Last January, Le Parisien revealed that the Grand Chancellery of the Legion of Honor had initiated disciplinary action against the actor.