Nicolas Sarkozy will know this Thursday what fate justice has in store for him in the Bygmalion affair. The court will indeed render its decision in the case of the excessive spending of his 2012 presidential campaign, almost twice their legal limit.
The decision of the Paris Criminal Court is expected at 10 a.m. The entourage of Nicolas Sarkozy also did not wish to give any indication of his possible arrival. In March, he became the first former President of the Fifth Republic to be sentenced to prison – three years including one, for corruption and influence peddling, in the so-called “wiretapping” affair. In this case, the former tenant of the Elysee Palace appealed.
In the Bygmalion affair, Nicolas Sarkozy is once again playing big. After five weeks of hearings in May and June, the prosecution requested against him a year in prison, including six months suspended. During the campaign for his re-election as head of state in 2012, Nicolas Sarkozy was a “casual candidate”, asking for “one meeting a day”, “American shows” and let the expenses slip away without s ‘worry about it, had supported the prosecution in its indictment in two voices.
Tried for “illegal campaign financing”
Unlike his 13 co-defendants (former executives of the campaign and the UMP as well as of the Bygmalion company, which organized the meetings) Nicolas Sarkozy, on the other hand, is not blamed for the double invoicing system imagined to hide the explosion in authorized campaign spending. He was only tried for “illegal campaign financing”. He faces one year’s imprisonment and a fine of 3,750 euros.
Nicolas Sarkozy, for his part, denied everything altogether. ” A fable ! He had carried away at the bar. “Where is the hectic campaign?” Where is the solid gold campaign? He had also chanted, taking everyone to task. “The money was not in my campaign, otherwise it would have been seen,” hammered the former head of state, believing that Bygmalion – founded by people very close to his rival Jean-François Cope – is was “stuffed” on his campaign. Logically his defense had therefore pleaded for release. “Who ordered the system? We do not have enough elements to demonstrate it, ”had also admitted the prosecutor Vanessa Perrée. Justice will say this Thursday if it has found the answer.