-The former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was definitively sentenced to 3 years in prison for corruption of a judge and influence peddling, one of which without parole, with the benefit of an electronic bracelet. The Court of Cassation rejected the appeal of Sarkozy’s lawyers against the final sentence on appeal in May 2023. For the former French head of state, the sentence also includes three years of ineligibility and deprivation of civil rights. The lawyers will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
What happened
The affair, known as the ‘wiretapping case’, originates from another judicial investigation, the one into the alleged Libyan financing of Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential campaign, a case for which the former Head of State will be tried at the beginning of 2025 Investigators had discovered that the former president had opened a second telephone line under the name of Paul Bismuthan unofficial line. During conversations dating back to 2013 and 2014, investigators and justice ascertained an act of corruption. Sarkozy’s legal historian, Thierry Herzoghad requested the support of the former president to obtain a position in Monaco due to his acquaintance, Gilbert Azibert. I
In exchange, the latter, then a magistrate of the Court of Cassation, was supposed to provide information covered by judicial secrecy on another case involving Sarkozy, known as the ‘Bettencourt affair’. In this context, Sarkozy was found guilty of “corruption” and “influence peddling”. In May 2023, the Court of Appeal confirmed the first instance sentence of three years in prison, of which one to be served with an electronic bracelet.
