Their decision was not long in coming. Barely minutes after the announcement of their conviction by the Paris Court of Appeal, Nicolas Sarkozy and his two co-defendants, his lawyer and friend Thierry Herzog and the former senior magistrate Gilbert Azibert, announced their intention to appeal in cassation. The three men had just been found guilty of “corruption” and “influence peddling” in the so-called “Paul Bismuth” case.
The former head of state, accused of having sought in 2013 to obtain information in another court case concerning him in exchange for the promise of a promotion for the magistrate, was sentenced to three years in prison, of which one year firm. An unprecedented sanction for a former president. The same sentences were pronounced against his two co-defendants. The Court of Appeal also pronounced a three-year ban on civil rights for Nicolas Sarkozy, which makes him ineligible, as well as a three-year ban on practicing for Me Thierry Herzog.
The appeal in cassation, what does it change?
In criminal matters, the appeal in cassation has a suspensive effect (with a few exceptions, but we will spare you the details). Clearly: “It suspends the execution of the sentence until the judgment of the Court”, specifies one within the highest French authority. On average, the decision is rendered six to eight months after receipt of the appeal: the hearing will therefore be held at the earliest in the autumn.
But this time, the facts will not be examined: the Court of Cassation does not fully retry the case – it does not seek to know whether Nicolas Sarkozy and his lawyer actually tried to bribe a magistrate – but focuses on the application law. Is the judgment rendered compliant, has the procedure been followed? If this is not the case, the decision of the court of appeal can be “overturned” and a new trial will be held. And if she sees nothing wrong with the form, the judgment is final. The only possible option is then to turn to the European Court of Human Rights.
Could Nicolas Sarkozy one day go to prison?
Not anytime soon. And we arrest you right away, it has nothing to do with his status as a former head of state. Since the penal reform of 2020, sentences of between six months and one year in prison can be adjusted. This can take different forms: electronic bracelet, semi-freedom or placement outside, in a third place. This decision is left to the discretion of the court. In the case of the “Bismuth” case, the court announced that the three men would be accommodated under an electronic bracelet at home. The objective of this device is mainly to avoid overcrowding of the prisons.
However, the hypothesis of detention, if it remains extremely hypothetical for the time being, cannot be totally excluded. Because Nicolas Sarkozy’s legal troubles are not limited to this single case. He will be retried on appeal in the fall in the so-called “Bygmalion” case, which relates to the costs of his presidential campaign in 2012. At first instance, he was sentenced to one year. In addition, the former president is under threat of a new trial: on Thursday, the national financial prosecutor’s office requested his referral to corrections in the case of the Libyan financing of his 2007 campaign. The decision of this possible trial now belongs to the investigating judges.