French court upholds Sarkozy's prison term in wiretap graft case

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced on appeal in Paris to three years in prison on Wednesday, including one year in prison for corruption and influence peddling in the so-called “wiretapping affair”.

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy leaves the courthouse after the ruling in his appeal trial in a corruption case at Paris courthouse on May 17, 2023. AFP - BERTRAND GUAY

Despite the decision by the Paris Court of Appeals to uphold his 2021 conviction, Sarkozy will not spend time behind bars.

This is because two years of his sentence were suspended, and he was ordered to wear an electronic bracelet instead of going to jail for the remaining year.

Sarkozy will not, however, be immediately fitted with an electronic bracelet following his lawyer’s announcement that the former leader would challenge Wednesday’s ruling in the Court of Cassation.

Appeals in this court generally take a year, during which time the penalty may not be applied.

Sentence unprecedented

Sarkozy, who served one term in office from 2007 to 2012, is the first former French head of state to be sentenced to prison.

The 68-year-old has been embroiled in legal troubles ever since leaving office.

He was sentenced in March 2021 for corruption and influence peddling through a secret telephone line that was discovered when investigators wiretapped Sarkozy's two official phone lines amid suspicions that Libya was financing his lavish re-election campaign.

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The third unofficial one phone line had been taken out in 2014 under the name Paul Bismuth.

The court found that Sarkozy and his former lawyer, Thierry Herzog, had formed a "corruption pact" with a judge, Gilbert Azibert, to obtain and share information about a legal investigation.

It was through the third line that Sarkozy communicated with Herzog. The contents of these calls led to the corruption verdict, which Sarkozy contested and immediately appealed.

All three men received the same sentences, which included being deprived of their civic rights for three years.

Herzog was also banned from practicing law for three years.