After his conviction in the so-called “Paul Bismuth tapping” affair, Nicolas Sarkozy is the first President of the Republic to receive a prison sentence.
His predecessor, Jacques Chirac, had himself received a suspended prison sentence.
The two men are not the first high-ranking French politicians to face justice.
Embezzlement, abuse of corporate assets, tax evasion ... Three former prime minister and dozens of ministers have already been convicted.
To read also: Nicolas Sarkozy affair: "This listening should never have taken place"
A president: Jacques Chirac
In December 2011,
Jacques Chirac
was the first former President of the Republic to receive a prison sentence: two years suspended within the framework of the case of fictitious jobs of the City of Paris, dating from the 90s when he was mayor of the capital and president of the RPR.
The judges had declared him guilty of having paid about twenty party executives with the budget of the town hall.
Weakened by illness, the former president did not attend his trial and did not appeal for his conviction for "embezzlement of public funds", "breach of trust" and "illegal taking of interest."
Three prime ministers: François Fillon, Alain Juppé and Edith Cresson
The scandal had sunk his presidential campaign: the former Prime Minister François Fillon was convicted in June 2020 in the case of the fictitious jobs of his wife Pénélope.
Found guilty of "embezzlement of public funds, complicity and concealment of abuse of social assets", François Fillon was sentenced to five years in prison including two farms, a fine of 375,000 euros and ten years of ineligibility.
The former minister appealed.
It is also a suspended prison sentence to which Alain Juppé was sentenced in 2004 for "illegal taking an interest" in fictitious jobs in the City of Paris.
Before becoming Prime Minister of Jacques Chirac from 1995 to 1997, Alain Juppé was secretary general of the RPR at the time of the affair.
Édith Cresson,
Prime Minister from 1991 to 1992, was tried for favoritism in 2006 by the European Court of Justice.
She was accused of having hired a relative in her office as European Commissioner in the 1990s. The Court found that
"Édith Cresson violated her obligations as Commissioner"
, without sanctioning her.
To read also: Sarkozy-Herzog-Azibert trial: beyond the "Bismuth affair", questions of principle
Edouard Balladur, a pending verdict
Édouard Balladur
was tried on February 3 before the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) for "complicity in the abuse of social property and concealment" in the context of the Karachi case.
The prosecution demanded a one-year suspended prison sentence and a 50,000 euro fine against the former prime minister, suspected of having partly financed his 1995 presidential campaign through illegal retrocommissions of important contracts. armament.
Verdict on March 4.
Half a dozen former ministers
Several former ministers had also already been sentenced to prison.
Claude Guéant, former Minister of the Interior, was sentenced to two years in prison including a farm, a fine of 75,000 euros and a ban from exercising any public office for five years.
He was accused of having received undeclared cash bonuses when he was director of Nicolas Sarkozy's cabinet.
Bernard Tapie, Minister of the City under François Mitterrand, also went through prison after being, among others, accused in 1995 of "complicity in corruption and tampering with witnesses" in the case of the football match rigged OM- Valenciennes when he chaired the Marseille club.
Sentenced to two years' imprisonment, he served 165 days in prison and obtained parole in 1997.
He was subsequently sentenced to eighteen months in prison for tax evasion.
It is also for tax evasion that the former Budget Minister under François Hollande, Jérôme Cahuzac, was sentenced to four years in prison, two of which were suspended.
The former minister, who had distinguished himself at the time for his statements on
"administrative phobia"
, escaped imprisonment by benefiting from a modification of sentence in the form of an electronic bracelet.
The former Minister of Tourism, Léon Bertrand, was also found guilty of abuse of social good and sentenced in March 2017 to three years in prison.
Alain Carignon, several times minister under Jacques Chirac, was sentenced in 1996 to five years in prison, four of which were closed for corruption.