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France: Former President Sarkozy was sentenced to one year in prison after being convicted of corruption
Sarkozy was convicted of attempting to bribe a judge and intervening in an investigation against him, and was also sentenced to two years probation.
The former president, who claims political persecution, can appeal the sentence
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France
Nicolas Sarkozy
News agencies
Monday, 01 March 2021, 15:13
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In the video: The beginning of the trial of Sarkozy who is on trial for bribery (Photo: Reuters)
A French court today (Monday) sentenced former President Nicolas Sarkozy to one year in prison after he was convicted of corruption.
In addition, the judges sentenced him to two years probation.
The former president can still appeal his sentence in the next ten days.
Sarkozy was convicted after promising a judge a prestigious position in Monaco, in exchange for inside information on a separate investigation against him.
The investigation involved the receipt of illegal funds from L'Oreal's heiress, Lillian Batencourt, during his 2007 presidential campaign.
Some of the evidence came from wiretapping conversations between him and veteran attorney Thierry Herzog.
These were approved as part of another investigation, which deals with funds transferred from Libya to Sarkozy's campaign.
Sarkozy is not the first French president to stand trial - it was his predecessor and political mentor Jacques Chirac who was convicted of embezzlement - but he is the first to be charged with corruption.
He set another precedent in 2014, when he was arrested for questioning.
He has been fighting for the closure of the case for the past six years and has claimed political persecution.
On the way to jail.
Sarkozy in Paris court today (Photo: Reuters)
Investigators have discovered that Sarkozy used a pseudonym - Paul Bismuth - to buy a phone in favor of secret conversations with his lawyer.
The duo is considering an appeal to Judge Gilbert Azibert, who claims the plaintiffs were given a task of obtaining information in order to influence the investigation of the Batancor case in favor of Sarkozy.
In return, Sarkozy was to use his connections to try to get Azibrat a job in Monaco.
"I will make him move forward," Sarkozy told Herzog, according to the prosecution, which compared his actions to those of an "experienced criminal."
Later, however, Sarkozy appears to have withdrawn from the plan.
This was a sign, according to the plaintiffs, that he and his lawyer had received inside information about wiretapping.
Sarkozy, a lawyer by training, accuses the justice system of a "revenge campaign" against him because he tried to limit the powers of judges and accused many of taking too soft a hand in dealing with criminals.
The protracted legal tangle thwarted his comeback attempt in the 2017 presidential election, but Sarkozy has been riding a wave of popularity since announcing his retirement from politics in 2018 and has gathered ardent supporters in his public appearances.
In the summer there were long queues for him to sign his book, "The Time of the Storms," which topped the bestseller lists in France for weeks.
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