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News > France

French Ex-President Sarkozy Faces 3 Years Prison for Corruption

  • Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to 3 years prison, convicted for bribing judges.

    Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to 3 years prison, convicted for bribing judges. | Photo: Twitter/@matigary

Published 1 March 2021
Opinion

Sarkozy becomes the first French head of state to be sentenced to a prison term.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced Monday to three years in prison for corruption and influence-peddling in the so-called Bismuth or wiretapping case.

His lawyer, Thierry Herzog, and former magistrate were sentenced to the same penalties.

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The former for corruption and breach of professional secrecy, the latter for concealment of breach of professional secrecy. 

Thierry Herzog is also banned from practicing law for five years. 

"They were perfectly aware of the fraudulent nature of their actions," said the president of the 32nd Chamber, Christine Mée, who announced the decision, early Monday afternoon.

The sentences are somewhat less than what had been demanded by the Prosecutor's Office, which had asked for two years in prison against the three defendants.

For its part, the Paris Correctional Court specified that two of these years of imprisonment are exempted. Sarkozy can convert the third year of firm imprisonment into house arrest or surveillance with an electronic bracelet.

This ruling is historic, more than nine years after Jacques Chirac's two-year suspended prison sentence in the case of fictitious work in the city of Paris.

This decision is also crucial for Nicolas Sarkozy, who faces a second trial on March 17 in the Bygmalion affair, related to his 2012 presidential campaign costs. The sentence was never served.

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