Nicolas Sarkozy’s lavish campaign events violated campaign spending laws, the Paris Court of Appeal ruled in the second instance, sentencing the former French president to a year in prison.
The Court of Appeal ruled that Sarkozy he is guilty of illegally financing his election campaign in 2012, upholding a lower court’s first-instance decision.
According to the court decision, the one-year sentence – of which 6 months are suspended – can be served by alternative means such as an electronic bracelet, without going to prison.
Sarkozy had been sentenced to a year in prison in 2021 when he was first found guilty, although his sentence was suspended as he appealed.
Sarkozy, who was president from 2007 to 2012, has remained an influential politician among conservatives and is on friendly terms with the president Emmanuel Macron despite a series of lawsuits and investigations linked to various legal issues surrounding his campaign finance.
He still denies accusations that his party “The Republicans”, then UMP, worked with a PR firm called Bygmalion to hide the true cost of his election campaign.
During the hearing, Sarkozy blamed members of his staff: “I did not choose any supplier, I did not sign any offer, any invoice,” he told the court.
According to newsit, the France sets strict limits on campaign spending. Prosecutors argue that the company issued invoices to UMP instead of the campaign. They say Sarkozy spent 42.8 million euros on his 2012 re-election campaign, nearly double the amount allowed.
For the record, Sarkozy lost the 2012 election to François Hollande.
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