The media Bygmalion trial ended on Tuesday evening. The Paris Criminal Court reserved its decision on September 30 at 10 a.m. concerning the fate of Nicolas Sarkozy and 13 other defendants in the case of the excessive spending of the presidential campaign of the former head of state in 2012.
One year in prison including six months suspended and 3,750 euros fine were required against Nicolas Sarkozy, tried for “illegal financing of electoral campaign”. The co-defendants of Nicolas Sarkozy are judged, to varying degrees, for “fraud”, “use of forgery” or “breach of trust”. The prosecution requested against them sentences ranging from eighteen months to four years of suspended imprisonment and fines of up to 150,000 euros.
“He is far from being a hysterical, insatiable candidate”
Nicolas Sarkozy’s lawyer, Me Gesche Le Fur, pleaded for the release of his client on Tuesday. “He did not sign any estimate, he did not sign any invoice, he accepted all the restrictions that were asked of him. He is far from being a hysterical, insatiable candidate. He is respectful of the values of justice, “pleaded the lawyer, who replaced the” historic “advice of Nicolas Sarkozy, Me Thierry Herzog, suffering.
The former head of state, who only appeared in court during his interrogation, has been on trial since May 20 alongside 13 other defendants, former UMP executives and the Bygmalion company, members of its campaign team or accountants. He is prosecuted only for “illegal campaign financing”. He faces imprisonment and a 3,750 euro fine.
The legal ceiling exceeded by twenty million euros
The investigation showed that the accounts of the 2012 presidential campaign had exceeded the authorized legal limit by around twenty million euros, via a system of false invoices.
In March, Nicolas Sarkozy had become the first ex-president of the Fifth Republic to be sentenced to firm imprisonment (three years, one of which was firm), for corruption and influence peddling in the so-called “wiretapping” affair.