Former French President Sarkozy loses corruption case

(CLO) On Wednesday (December 18), France's highest appeals court ordered former French President Nicolas Sarkozy to continue wearing an electronic tag as a measure of probation, after rejecting his appeal against his previous corruption conviction.

It is the first time a former French head of state has been convicted. The court also banned him from holding public office for three years. The ruling means he could face up to 12 months of house arrest.

His lawyer said he would comply with the ruling, but would take the case to the European Court of Human Rights within weeks. However, that would not stop Wednesday's sentence, as Mr Sarkozy has exhausted his appeals in France.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Photo: CC

Mr Sarkozy, 69, was previously convicted in a corruption case. Specifically, in 2021, a lower court found that Mr Sarkozy and his former lawyer Thierry Herzog had entered into a "corruption pact" with judge Gilbert Azibert to obtain and share information about a judge under investigation.

The deal was struck in exchange for the promise of a lucrative retirement job for a judge. The trial comes after investigators were looking into another case of alleged illegal campaign financing. They had tapped two of Mr Sarkozy's official phone lines.

Investigators also discovered that Mr Sarkozy also had an unofficial third line. The content of these phone calls led to the 2021 corruption verdict.

Before Sarkozy, the only French leader to be convicted in a criminal trial was his predecessor Jacques Chirac, who received a two-year suspended sentence in 2011 for corruption. But Mr Sarkozy is the first post-World War II French president to be sentenced to prison.

The court sentenced him to three years in prison, two of which were suspended, and one year of home confinement with an electronic tag that would track his movements. That sentence was upheld by an appeals court last year.

Huy Hoang (according to AFP, France24, CNA)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/former-president-of-phap-sarkozy-thua-kien-trong-vu-an-tham-nhung-post326368.html