France’s highest court has upheld the 2021 conviction of former President Nicolas Sarkozy on charges of corruption and influence peddling.
The Court of Cassation issued its decision on Wednesday.
Sarkozy had appealed against the conviction, for which he had been handed a three-year prison sentence. Two of the years were suspended, and Sarkozy is to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet instead of going to prison for the remaining year.
Sarkozy’s lawyer Patrick Spinosi said that the former president plans to appeal the verdict to the European Court of Human Rights.
“The challenge that I will be bringing to the European Court of Human Rights may, alas, lead to a condemnation against France,” Sarkozy wrote on the social media platform X.
“I want to once again state that I am clearly innocent,” he added.
Spinosi confirmed that Sarkozy will comply with the court’s decision and wear an electronic tag.
Sarkozy, who served as president from 2007 to 2012, was found guilty by a lower court of trying to bribe a judge and trading influence for confidential information about an investigation into his 2007 campaign finances.
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The court determined that Sarkozy conspired to secure a job for Judge Gilbert Azibert in Monaco in exchange for inside information on an inquiry into allegations that Sarkozy had received illegal payments from L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt. Azibert was also convicted of corruption and influence peddling.
In addition to this case, Sarkozy, who retired from public life in 2017, faces further corruption charges. He is to stand trial next year for alleged illegal financing of his 2007 presidential campaign with claims that it received funding from the Libyan government. Sarkozy denies all the allegations. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison.
Sarkozy’s conviction makes him only the second French president in modern history to be found guilty of corruption charges. Jacques Chirac, his conservative predecessor, was convicted of corruption in 2011, four years after leaving office.
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