A one-year suspended prison sentence was requested against Nicolas Sarkozy in the appeal trial over excessive spending during his lost presidential campaign in 2012, for which he was sentenced at first instance to one year’s imprisonment. According to the public prosecutor, the ex-president “knowingly violated the legal limitation on electoral expenses”.
“There was nothing fatal about this spending trend,” said Attorney General Bruno Revel in his requisitions. “It results from the choice imposed by the candidate. » But he asked for an entirely suspended sentence, the former head of state (2007-2012) “not being accused of being at the origin of the system put in place” to hide the explosion of his campaign expenses (nearly 43 million euros, while the legal ceiling was 22.5 million) nor of “having been informed of it”.
“The acceleration in spending is spectacular”
By starting his requisitions, the attorney general recalled the “constants of this file”: “The ceiling of Nicolas Sarkozy’s campaign expenses was exceeded, this excess was accepted, this excess was concealed”. According to him, it was not decided “from the start” to “free itself from the rules” on electoral expenses, but “at a given moment”, these were “thrown out the window” and was done “the deliberate choice of headlong flight”. “The acceleration in spending is spectacular,” observed the other attorney general, Serge Roques.
Unlike his co-defendants, the former president is not accused of the system of false invoices designed to hide the explosion in spending. But in its judgment, the court had underlined that the former tenant of the Elysée had “continued the organization of electoral meetings”, “requesting one meeting per day”, even though he “had been warned in writing” of the risk of legal overrun, then actual overrun. During his interrogation last Friday, Nicolas Sarkozy, as during the first trial, “vigorously contested any criminal responsibility”, denouncing “fables” and “lies”.
From 18 months to four years in prison for the nine other defendants
During the first trial, the prosecution requested one year in prison, including six months suspended, and Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced in September 2021 to one year in prison. The criminal court, however, requested that this sentence be directly adjusted, at home under electronic surveillance. Nicolas Sarkozy’s lawyer, Me Vincent Desry, is due to plead on Friday morning, opening the defense pleadings.
In this case, said Bygmalion, named after the company which organized the campaign meetings of the right-wing candidate, 14 individuals were sentenced at first instance to sentences of up to three and a half years in prison, some of which were with reprieve. Three of them did not appeal, so their conviction is final, and a fourth only appealed on civil interests.
Against the nine other defendants retried in this case since November 8, the public prosecutor requested sentences of 18 months to four years of imprisonment, all suspended, as well as fines of 10,000 to 30,000 euros and bans on exercise or ineligibility for some of them.