French Court Upholds Sarkozy’s Jail Term In Wiretap Graft Case
A French appeals court has upheld a prison sentence of three years, including two suspended, against former President Nicolas Sarkozy for corruption and influence peddling.
The court on Wednesday maintained Sarkozy should serve a one-year detention sentence at home with an electronic bracelet.
The court also banned him from public office for three years over his attempts to secure favours from a judge in a case uncovered by wiretapping.
The 68-year-old left the courtroom without making any comment, but his lawyer said they would be appealing the decision with the court of causation, France’s highest appeals court.
Sarkozy, who served one term from 2007 to 2012, has been embroiled in legal troubles ever since he left office.
Sarkozy is accused of corruption, illegal campaign financing and concealing the embezzlement of public funds but denied all the charges.
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The trial came after investigators looking into another case of alleged illegal campaign financing wiretapped Sarkozy’s two official phone lines, and discovered that he also had a third unofficial one.
It had been taken out in 2014 under the name “Paul Bismuth”, and only used for him to communicate with Herzog.
The contents of these phone calls led to the 2021 corruption verdict, which the former leader contested and immediately appealed.
On the first day of the appeals hearing in December, Sarkozy said he had “never corrupted anybody.”
The appeals court, after hearing his conversations with Herzog, however ruled he had “used his status as former president… to serve his personal interest,” calling it a “deviation” that required “a firm penal response.”
