The former president of the French Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, was sentenced on appeal to three years in prison, one of which to be served, in the context of the trial on the wiretapping scandal. Sarkozy, 68, has always pleaded innocent in the proceedings for which he had already been convicted in the first instance for the crimes of corruption and influence trafficking. No president of the French Republic had ever suffered such a heavy sentence. The same penalties as the former president for his longtime lawyer, Thierry Herzog, and for the former high magistrate Gilbert Azibert.
Electronic bracelet in case of final conviction
Against Sarkozy, the court also pronounced the interdiction from civil rights for three years, with the impossibility therefore to run for political office. Also for the lawyer Herzog, prohibition to practice the profession for three years. The same sentence had been pronounced by the first instance court.
The former president, his lawyers say, will appeal to the Supreme Court. “We are about to present a suspensive appeal to the Cassation – said his lawyer Jacqueline Laffont -, this decision seems surprising, questionable and unfair to me”. BfmTv reports it. Sarkozy was also sentenced to three years in the first instance, but all with probation. If the sentence pronounced on appeal is confirmed, Sarkozy will serve the year in prison with the electronic bracelet.
An appeal to the Supreme Court implies the suspension of the sentence. If you are tried for facts prior to 2018, and in the case of a sentence of less than or equal to two years in prison actually to be served (prison ferme) – they explain on Bfmtv – the sentence can be served with an electronic bracelet. The facts attributed to Sarkozy date back to 2013, and the sentence was one year.
Influence trafficking
Sarkozy was found guilty of having undertaken, in 2014 through the lawyer Herzog, to support Azibert’s candidacy for a prestigious office in the Principality of Monaco (which the magistrate never obtained, ed.) in exchange for interventions and confidential communications regarding a case then under examination by the Cassation.