French ex-president Sarkozy's conviction for campaign financing upheld
Sarkozy and his team are said to have spent around €20 million too much on his re-election campaign. The former president claims to have known nothing about it, but it is now costing him dearly.
Paris (AP/dpa) - France's former head of state Nicolas Sarkozy must serve a six-month prison sentence in further legal proceedings for illegal campaign financing. The Court of Cassation in Paris rejected the 70-year-old's appeal against his conviction. The sentence is now final.
However, Sarkozy will not have to serve his sentence in prison. A criminal court judge must now decide on the type of alternative sentence. Under French law the sentence can be served at home, monitored with an electronic bracelet or other requirements set by a judge.
The decision comes just two weeks after his release from prison pending an appeal in another campaign financing case. Sarkozy, 70, was incarcerated for 20 days in Paris' La Santé prison, after judges convicted him of scheming to get secret financing from Libya in his winning campaign for the French presidency in 2007. He has denied any wrongdoing.
20 million too much spent
This case concerns Sarkozy's failed re-election as president in 2012 and the funds used by his team for this purpose. Campaign spending is capped in France to create more equal opportunities between candidates. In 2012, the permitted upper limit was 22.5 million euros.
In the appeal proceedings last year, the court found that Sarkozy's team had exceeded this limit by at least €20 million. In order to cover up the excess spending, expenses were allegedly disguised by a system of fictitious invoices from his party, the UMP, which has since been renamed Les Républicains. Sarkozy did not invent the system, but he is said to have ignored important clues. He was sentenced to a total of one year in prison, six months of which were suspended.
Sarkozy has always denied the allegations. His lawyer, Vincent Desry, said: ‘Nicolas Sarkozy is completely innocent of the charges against him in this case.’ He did not commit any funds and did not know that the spending limit had been exceeded.
Electronic tag and prison sentence
For the former president, the decision is another bitter defeat in his long-running, bitter battle with the French justice system. At the beginning of the year, he was forced to wear an electronic tag for around three months. The sentence was imposed for bribery and undue influence – allegations that Sarkozy has always denied.
And because he is alleged to have sought funds from Libya for his 2007 election campaign, the former star of France's conservative right wing was temporarily imprisoned a little over a month ago. The politician, popularly known as ‘Sarko’, has since been allowed to leave his cell under certain conditions. Sarkozy denied all allegations in this case as well. He called his conviction a scandal and appealed.
Sarkozy already known for scandals
The once dazzling figure of Sarkozy has fallen far with multiple convictions, yet he is still considered an influential voice. The conservative's term in office at the Élysée Palace from 2007 to 2012 was marked by affairs involving wealthy friends, excessive government officials and nepotism. Sarkozy ultimately lost his re-election bid for president in 2012 to the socialist François Hollande. Five years later, he failed in the party's internal selection process for the presidential election.