France
Lesser punishment for Sarkozy – ex-president is appealing
Nicolas Sarkozy (M) was French President from 2007 to 2012. photo
© Bertrand Guay/AFP/dpa
During his re-election campaign in 2012, the team of the then French president massively exceeded the capped costs. Sarkozy is convicted again. But the last word has not been spoken.
Although the sentence was somewhat milder than in the first instance, the 69-year-old former president appealed. The nine other defendants received prison and suspended sentences of up to two years in the appeal process. Sarkozy shook his head during the verdicts against his co-defendants and appeared affected after the decision.
“Nicolas Sarkozy is completely innocent of what he is accused of in this case,” said lawyer Vincent Desry after the verdict was announced. “He continues his fight.” The appeal was filed before the Court of Cassation, the highest French court.
Court: Cost limit exceeded by 20 million
The proceedings revolve around Sarkozy’s failed re-election as president in 2012. Spending on the election campaign is capped in France in order to create more equal opportunities between the candidates. In 2012 the permitted upper limit was 22.5 million euros. Presiding judge Pascaline Chamboncel-Saligue said Sarkozy’s team had exceeded this cost limit by at least around 20 million euros. In order to cover up the overspending, expenses are said to have been disguised by his party UMP – now renamed Les Républicains – using a system of fictitious invoices. Sarkozy is not said to have invented the system, but he is said to have ignored important information. Sarkozy had always rejected the allegations.
In the first instance, Sarkozy was sentenced to one year in prison without parole more than two years ago. According to the appeal court, the conservative should not have served his sentence in prison. The form of sentence conversion would still have been decided. The execution of the sentence is now suspended for the time being due to the appeal.
Even though the sentence was less than in the first instance, the court’s verdict against Sarkozy went beyond the prosecution’s demands. She had pleaded for a one-year suspended sentence. Sarkozy’s defense had demanded an acquittal. Attorney Desry called the verdict very questionable. Sarkozy did not commit any funds and he did not know that the cost limit had been exceeded.
Campaign funds from Libya?
The scandal-ridden former star of the civil right has been in dispute with the French judiciary for years. In May last year, an appeals court confirmed a three-year prison sentence against him for bribery and illicit influence, including two years of probation. Sarkozy appealed.
At the beginning of next year, Sarkozy is expected to be in the dock in another spicy affair. Because he is said to have received money for the election campaign from Libya during the time of then-ruler Muammar al-Gaddafi, investigative judges ordered a trial against him and other suspects. They accuse the former president of illegal campaign financing, embezzlement of public funds and bribery. Sarkozy also denied these allegations.
The conservative’s term in office in the Élysée Palace from 2007 to 2012 was marked by affairs involving rich friends, self-indulgent members of the government and nepotism. The former right-wing hope ultimately lost his re-election as president in 2012 against the socialist François Hollande. Five years later he failed in the party’s internal selection process for the presidential election. Although Sarkozy is no longer in office, many supporters of the civil right see “Sarko,” as he is popularly known, as a figurehead. There are also repeated reports of talks between Sarkozy and the current French President Emmanuel Macron.