A
"judicial relentlessness"
.
Stunned, the right denounces the sentence deemed
"disproportionate"
pronounced Monday against his tutelary figure: Nicolas Sarkozy, sentenced to three years in prison including one year for corruption and influence peddling, in the so-called "eavesdropping" case - l ex-president will appeal.
To read also: Affair of "tapping": condemned, Nicolas Sarkozy sees his political future darken
"The severity of the sentence adopted is absolutely disproportionate and revealing the judicial harassment"
of the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) - representing the interests of the State during the trial - wrote on Twitter the President of the Republicans (LR), Christian Jacob.
If he says he does not question the court's decision, his vice-president, Gilles Platret, has
"the feeling that this case has been investigated with a severity totally out of the ordinary"
.
The historic lawyer of Nicolas Sarkozy, Thierry Herzog, and the former high magistrate Gilbert Azibert, bound by a
"corruption pact"
to the former head of state according to the criminal court, were also sentenced to three years of prison including two years closed.
"Stupefaction"
Already tested by the case of fictitious jobs involving the former Prime Minister François Fillon - sentenced in 2020 at first instance to five years in prison, two of which closed, he appealed - the right says his
"amazement"
.
The last president from his ranks was the subject of
"an extremely harsh sentence in a particularly weak case"
, estimates the leader of LR senators, Bruno Retailleau, recalling that
"there is a right to presumption of innocence as long as the remedies have not been served ”
.
To read also: Conviction of Nicolas Sarkozy: "François Hollande created the PNF to break the right and it has borne fruit"
Ten years after the conviction, in 2011, of his predecessor Jacques Chirac, in the case of the fictitious jobs of the mayor of Paris, Nicolas Sarkozy has received the support of his faithful.
"The fight continues, the truth will emerge,"
assured Carla Bruni-Sarkozy on Instagram, denouncing
"insane relentlessness"
and
"injustice"
, echoing the
"infamies"
denounced by her husband at his trial.
"More than ever friendship and loyalty to President Nicolas Sarkozy"
, for his part wrote on Twitter the deputy LR of the Alpes-Maritimes Éric Ciotti.
Potential candidate for the 2017 presidential election, the president (ex-LR) of Hauts-de-France, Xavier Bertrand, called for
"all avenues of appeal (to be) used so that he can wash his honor and that the whole truth be made ”.
"Brutal"
Pronounced by irremovable judges in the name of the independence of justice, the sentence remains stricken with suspicion even in the ranks of the National Rally (RN), where the MEP Thierry Mariani, former Minister of Transport of Nicolas Sarkozy, defends a
"Political justice"
.
At the top of the state, a stunned minister also wonders:
"I can never say it publicly, but I can not help but think that there is a form of relentlessness
.
"
"It's very, very brutal"
, supports an important cog in the executive.
Read also: Politics, justice: how Nicolas Sarkozy prepares the after
Still awaited as a remedy by some LR elected officials in need of a leader for the 2022 presidential election, despite his failed attempt in the right-wing primary in 2016, Nicolas Sarkozy finds himself weakened by his sentence.
But a member of the government sees no obstacle:
“He has been in business for a long time, the conviction does not change the situation.
The "sarkolâtres" will continue to support him anyway, even if I never believed in his return ”.
A strategist of Emmanuel Macron, president who has not ceased since his election to poach on the lands of the right, wants to be sharp:
"The career of Nicolas Sarkozy has been extraordinary, but it is behind him"
.
