PARIS (FRANCE) – The former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced today, December 18, definitively for corruption and influence peddling sentenced to one year with an electronic braceleta first for a former French president, will “respect” the ruling but will turn to the European Court of Human Rights. His lawyer, Patrice Spinosi, declared this to AFP.
“Nicolas Sarkozy will obviously comply with the sanction imposed, which is now definitive,” commented Spinosi. “At the same time, in the coming weeks he will turn to the European Court, as is now his right, to obtain the guarantee of the rights that the French judges have denied him,” he added.
The condemnation
The conviction was confirmed today by the French Court of Cassation. The court did not change the measures taken against Sarkozy, who maintained a three-year suspended sentence and will avoid prison for another year, provided he agrees to submit to electronic surveillance. The measure also entails political disqualification for three years. The former president has other open court cases.
The French judiciary therefore considers it proven that Sarzoky, convicted at first instance in 2021 and on appeal in 2023, exploited his position to try to obtain information on a judicial investigation concerning him. The intermediaries, lawyer Thierry Herzog and former judge Gilbert Azibert, were also convicted.
