Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced to three years in prison, with two years of probation, on appeal for a corruption charge linked to an event in 2014. The same sentence had been handed down in March 2021 in a first-degree ruling.
Sarkozy, the first former president to receive an effective prison sentence, will not serve time behind bars, as the court allowed he may serve the sentence under house arrest with an electronic monitoring bracelet.
Dressed in gray and wearing a serious expression, Sarkozy has stepped back from politics since 2016 but remains influential among French conservatives. He attended the reading of the judgment at the courthouse in Paris, leaving without comment.
His lawyer described the sentence as “worrying,” stating that the aim was to send moral lessons rather than legal messages, while confirming plans to appeal to the Supreme Court and to pursue the case to the end to prove the former president’s innocence.
The former president was initially sentenced to three years in prison in March 2021, with two years suspended on a charge tied to actions taken in 2014, two years after leaving office, when his influence was allegedly used for another purpose.
During the latest December appeal, prosecutors had requested a reduction of the sentence, with two years of probation, but the court imposed a tougher outcome for Sarkozy.
Two years after leaving the Elysee, Sarkozy sought judicial leniency from a senior judge who was implicated in another investigation through wiretaps.
The court also convicted Sarkozy’s lawyer, Thierry Herzog, who was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, with two years suspended from prison, and a three-year ban from practicing the profession; Judge Gilbert Azibert received the same sentence along with three years of civil disenfranchisement. Their lawyers announced plans to appeal to the Supreme Court, asserting that none would serve jail time.
According to the presiding judge, Sarkozy’s punishment was severe because he allegedly exploited his former president status for personal gain. The panel noted ongoing concerns about the public’s trust in justice and the integrity of the process.
Despite Sarkozy’s continued denial of guilt, the Supreme Court remains the next avenue for appeal, with a five-day window to file. This development marks another judicial setback for the former president. Between 2007 and 2012, Sarkozy had previously faced another conviction for irregular campaign financing in September 2021. He has appealed the second sentence, with a ruling anticipated in an upcoming appeal session.
Sarkozy also faces a third legal front after the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office requested that Muammar Gaddafi appear to explain funding for Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential campaign, alleged to have come from Libyan regime accounts.