Former French President Sentenced to Prison for Corruption

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy is being sentenced to 3 years in prison, two years suspended, for corruption after attempting to bribe a judge in 2014.

The judge, Gilbert Azibert, was supposedly offered a prestigious job in Monaco in exchange for information regarding a past court case. Prosecution relied on wiretaps of conversations between Sarkozy and his lawyer, Thierry Herzog, as they discussed the bribe. The defense called these conversations mere “chats between friends.”

Azibert and Herzog testified as co-defendants alongside Sarkozy, all three defendants were found guilty and prosecuted.

The defense also said that Herzog never got the job offered to him in the bribe, however, the court dismissed their claims, refusing to differentiate successful corruption from attempted corruption.

Sarkozy testified in court in December of last year, and was found guilty in March of this year. During his trial, he denied all charges, saying, “Never. Never abused my influence, alleged or real. What right do they have to drag me through the mud like this for 6 years? Is there no rule of law?”

Sarkozy is the second former French president to get a prison sentence in recent history, with his predecessor Jacques Chirac being convicted in 2011.

He is appealing this case, which could take years, years where he will be walking free. If his appeal is successful, he could instead server a year of home arrest rather than going to prison.

His wife, Carla Bruni, made statements on Instagram calling the case, “senseless persecution,” and saying that “the fight will continue, and the truth will come out.”

Sarkozy is also due for trial again over allegations of overspending his campaign spending budget of $24 million during his 2012 reelection campaign and then tried to cover his overspending up.

There is also an investigation regarding him allegedly taking millions of dollars for his 2007 campaign from Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, which he could also face charges for.