5/17/2023–|Last update: 5/17/202301:10 PM (Mecca Time)
Today, Wednesday, an appeals court in Paris sentenced former French President Nicolas Sarkozy to 3 years in prison, one of which is suspended, during which he is placed under surveillance with an electronic bracelet, after convicting him of corruption and influence peddling, in an unprecedented move against a former French president.
The Paris Court of Appeal upheld the ruling issued in the Court of First Instance on March 1, 2021 against the former right-wing president, who heard the decision sitting on the defendants’ benches.
Then his lawyer, Jacqueline Lavon, announced that the former president would appeal the decision to the Court of Cassation. “Nicolas Sarkozy is innocent of the charges against him,” she said. “We will continue the legal path to the end,” she added, speaking of an “amazing” decision.
The former president left the courtroom without making any statement.
Nicolas Sarkozy, 68, became the first former president to be sentenced to imprisonment, after his predecessor, Jacques Chirac, was sentenced to a two-year suspended prison term in 2011 in a fictitious work case in Paris.
Two similar rulings were issued against Tiare Herzog, 67, Sarkozy’s historic lawyer, and former Chief Justice Gilbert Azibir, who were convicted of a “corruption deal” with Nicolas Sarkozy in 2014 and were sentenced to the same penalty.
The Court of Appeal also issued two rulings depriving Sarkozy of 3 years of his civil rights, which makes him ineligible for any elections, and preventing Herzog from practicing his work for 3 years.
On December 13, the Public Prosecution demanded that the three defendants be imprisoned for a period of 3 years, with a suspended sentence. The defendants have always denied any corruption.
Sarkozy, who held the position of president in his country from (2007-2012), objected “with the greatest severity” to these accusations during the appeal trial, assuring the court that he “did not corrupt anyone.”
This decision was expected when Nicolas Sarkozy will be retried in the Court of Appeal in the fall in the case of illegal financing of his presidential campaign in 2012. He is threatened with a third resounding trial, as the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office requested last Thursday that he be referred to the Criminal Court in the case of suspected financing by The late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi for his 2007 presidential campaign.
It is noteworthy that Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd president of France, and he also held the position of Minister of the Interior, as he was known for his strong loyalty to America and Israel, and after his departure from the Elysee, the judiciary suspended him pending investigation on various charges, including allegations that he had received millions of dollars from Gaddafi to finance his election campaign in 2007.
Sarkozy was included in many tasks and responsibilities until he reached the presidency of France in the 2007 elections, and his rule continued until 2012.
In 1988 he was elected as a deputy in the General Assembly, then he was appointed Minister of the Treasury between 1993 and 1995 in the government of Prime Minister Edouard Baladur, and he left the ministry in 1995 after his support for the candidate Baladur against the late President Jacques Chirac, and he was appointed Minister of the Interior after the re-election of President Chirac in 2002 In the government of Jean-Pierre Raffarin.
