Nicolas Sarkozy has arrived in familiar territory. The appeal trial of the former head of state and twelve other defendants in the “Bygmalion” case, on the alleged illegal financing of the lost 2012 presidential campaign, opened on Wednesday in Paris. In a gray suit, the former president appeared relaxed before the hearing opened, chatting with some of the public in the room.
He was sentenced at first instance, in September 2021, to one year in prison for having exceeded the legal spending limit for his campaign, the maximum penalty then provided for by law. Nicolas Sarkozy immediately announced his intention to appeal, considering his conviction to the maximum penalty then provided for by law “unjust” and promising to go “to the end”.
Unlike his co-defendants, Nicolas Sarkozy is not accused of the system of false invoices itself, designed to hide the explosion in his campaign’s spending (nearly 43 million euros, while the legal ceiling was of 22.5 million).
Twelve co-defendants
Twelve former campaign executives, from the UMP – now Les Républicains – or from the Bygmalion company, will be retried for complicity in “illegal campaign financing”, forgery, fraud, breach of trust or complicity in these offenses .
At first instance, the court found that they had participated, to varying degrees, in the establishment of a double billing system. Ten of them appealed their criminal convictions, while two others are only contesting the damages inflicted on them. A thirteenth convicted defendant, former MP Philippe Briand, did not appeal.
For this new trial, scheduled to last until December 8, he will be defended by his long-time lawyer, Me Thierry Herzog, and by Vincent Desry.