PARIS — A French court on Thursday sentenced Nicolas Sarkozy, the former president, to a year in jail for illegally financing his failed 2012 re-election campaign by wildly exceeding France’s strict electoral spending limits.
Mr. Sarkozy, 66, was president from 2007 to 2012. Though he is no longer active in politics and continues to be dogged by multiple legal entanglements, he is still an influential voice on the French right. Shortly after the verdict, his lawyer announced that Mr. Sarkozy would appeal the conviction.
It is the second time that Mr. Sarkozy has been sentenced to prison. In March, he became the first former president in France’s recent history to be sentenced to actual jail time after he was convicted on charges of corruption and influence peddling for trying to illegally obtain information from a judge on a legal case against him.
Mr. Sarkozy has appealed that conviction, which put the sentence on hold. Still, it made him only the second former president in France’s modern history to be convicted of a crime — Jacques Chirac was found guilty in 2011 of embezzling and misusing public funds when he was mayor of Paris.
The verdict against Mr. Sarkozy on Thursday came after a yearslong investigation and a trial in May and June, both of which focused on his 2012 re-election campaign and on France’s stringent electoral rules. » | Aurelien Breeden | Thursday, September 30, 2021
Affaire Bygmalion : Nicolas Sarkozy condamné à un an de prison ferme : Dans cette affaire liée à la campagne présidentielle de 2012, le parquet avait requis un an de prison, dont six mois avec sursis. L'ancien chef de l'État va faire appel. »
Frankreichs früherer Präsident Sarkozy zu einem Jahr Haft verurteilt: Nicolas Sarkozys Wahlkampf habe 2012 doppelt so viel gekostet wie erlaubt, sagen die Richter. Er hätte das besser überwachen müssen. Nun muss er ein Jahr in elektronisch überwachten Hausarrest. »
Affaire Bygmalion : qui a été condamné et pourquoi ? : Nicolas Sarkozy a été condamné à un an de prison pour financement illégal de sa campagne présidentielle de 2012. Au centre de l’affaire : un vaste système de fausses factures. »
