The Court of Cassation rejected the appeal of the former President of the Republic: the three-year prison sentence, one of which with an electronic bracelet, for corruption and influence peddling is therefore final
It is an unprecedented sanction for a French head of state. Today the Court of Cassation rejected the appeal of the former President of the Republic, Nicolas Sarkozyfor the so-called “affaire des écoutes”, the wiretapping scandal that has haunted him since 2014, i.e. since the justice system discovered his secret telephone line, in the name of Paul Bismuth, and the promise of a prestigious position to a magistrate, a place on the Council of State in the Principality of Monaco, in exchange for information covered by the secrecy of the investigation into the Bettencourt dossier. The three-year prison sentence, one of which with an electronic bracelet, for corruption and influence peddling is therefore final: for magistrates, in 2014 there was a “corruption pact” with Gilbert Azibert, senior judge of the Court of Cassation, and his historic lawyer Thierry Herzog.
“In the next few weeks he will turn to the European Court of Human Rights to obtain respect for the rights that the French judges have denied him,” Sarkò’s lawyer, Patrice Spinosi, reacted immediately after the sentence: “For the first time in France, a person has been criminally convicted solely on the basis of remarks overheard while speaking to his lawyer.” On . Before celebrating his 70th birthday on January 28th, Sarkozy will also have to appear in court in the case over alleged financing from Libya for the 2007 election campaign. While also awaiting the other ruling from the Court of Cassation, the one on the Bygmalion case relating to the excess expenses of his 2012 campaign. Even for his janissaries, Sarkozy c’est fini.
