A Paris appeals court on Wednesday affirmed a lower court’s ruling convicting former French President Nicolas Sarkozy of illegal campaign finance conduct and reduced his one-year prison term to six months, with six months suspended.
In the case known as the “Bygmalion affair,” the lower court had ruled in 2021 that Sarkozy’s staff had violated campaign expenditure limits during his 2012 reelection run, and it sentenced Sarkozy to a one-year jail term. This was the first time since World War II that a French president had been sentenced to prison, according to France 24.
Sarkozy was convicted of concealing overspending through a public relations firm, and 13 other party and campaign managers were sentenced to up to three and a half years with partially suspended sentences. Given his short sentence, Sarkozy may be offered alternative options to jail such as electronic monitoring.
Vincent Desry, Sarkozy’s lawyer, said in a live TV interview, “Mr. Sarkozy is entirely innocent.” He indicated that his client would appeal the ruling to France’s highest court, the Court of Cassation.
Sarkozy also faces trial in 2025 on allegations that he received money to fund his 2007 presidential campaign from the late former Libyan dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi.
Called “Sarko, the American” during his 2007-2012 term, Sarkozy faces additional charges including corruption and receiving payments from a Russian insurance company, all of which he has vigorously denied.
In another legal case in 2021, Sarkozy was sentenced to one year in prison for helping a magistrate secure a prominent post in exchange for information regarding a legal investigation. Despite having lost an appeal of that conviction, the conservative leader’s sentence has not yet been imposed.
Notwithstanding the former French president’s numerous legal woes, Sarkozy retains political clout, particularly with current President Emmanuel Macron.