The Paris Court of Appeal is due to deliver its judgment in the “Bygmalion” case on Wednesday.
At first instance, a sentence of 1 year in prison - beyond the prosecution's requisitions - was handed down against Nicolas Sarkozy.
This was the maximum incurred by the former head of state in this matter.
Thirteen other defendants were also sentenced to various sentences, most of them suspended.
“Fables and lies”
The case concerns the illegal financing of the presidential campaign of the outgoing candidate in 2012. The authorized ceiling, 22.5 million euros, had been pulverized, rising to 43 million.
To cover this colossal fraud, the hidden part would have been, according to the prosecution, invoiced to the UMP (today LR) in the form of false invoices relating to fanciful conventions.
And this, with the active participation of the event communications agency Bygmalion, whose directors were close not to Mr. Sarkozy but to his rival within the UMP itself, Jean-François Copé.
However, the investigation did not make it possible to establish complicity on the part of the former President of the Republic, who was prosecuted for a simple violation of the electoral code.
Mr. Copé, placed for a time under the status of assisted witness, was not even indicted.
The appeal hearing, which only concerned ten of the defendants, took place from November 8 to December 7, 2023. Mr. Sarkozy reaffirmed that he was not aware of anything, citing
“fables”
and
“lies.” »
of his detractors while, in its judgment, the criminal court noted that he had
“continued the organization of
electoral meetings”, even though he
“had been warned in writing”
of the risk of exceeding the legal ceiling, then of its actual overrun.
Sentences of 18 months to 4 years of imprisonment required
The attorneys general this time requested 1 year of suspended imprisonment against him (compared to 1 year of which 6 months are closed in first instance), Mr. Sarkozy
“not being reproached for being at the origin of the system put in place place”
nor
“having been informed of it”
.
For the defense, provided by Me Vincent Desry, the acquittal was necessary, because his client would have
“never been aware of an excess”
of the ceiling and
“never incurred expenses”
personally.
Consequently, according to him, neither the material element of the offense nor its intentional element has been demonstrated by the public prosecutor.
According to Nicolas Sarkozy's version, Jean-François Copé, then head of the UMP, his chief of staff, Jérôme Lavrilleux (also deputy director of the presidential campaign team and at the origin of the shattering revelation of the scandal in 2014), and the Bygmalion company enriched themselves on its back with a view to subsequent elections.
However, investigating judges Tournaire and Van Ruymbeke never found the slightest trace of this alleged “war treasure”.
Against the other defendants, the attorneys general requested sentences of 18 months to 4 years of imprisonment, all suspended, as well as fines of 10,000 to 30,000 euros.
Among those who were part of the UMP, only Jérôme Lavrilleux admitted to having covered the double billing system.
The other defendants claimed to be unaware of anything, while working to minimize their involvement in the financial aspect of the 2012 presidential campaign, sometimes to the point of ridicule.
The stakes are high for Mr. Sarkozy, convicted on appeal in the so-called "Paul Bismuth" case - an appeal to the Supreme Court is currently being examined - and expected before other courts in the context of proceedings linked to the supposed " Libyan financing” of his political activities, which he has always fiercely refuted.