[ad_1]
Sarkozy promised a judge a position in Monaco in exchange for inside information about another investigation into allegations that his campaign for the 2007 presidential election had received illegal funding from L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, according to prosecutors.
The evidence includes data obtained from telephone conversations with Sarkozy and his longtime lawyer, Thierry Herzog. Permission was given to continue a third investigation into Sarkozy’s alleged funding for Libya’s 2007 campaign.
Sarkozy and Herzog argued that the hearings violated the privilege of the client and the lawyer, but the courts rejected their complaints.
Sarkozy, accused of corruption and illegal pressure, faces up to 10 years in prison.
Given that part of the sentence is conditional, the former president is unlikely to be caught behind bars. Actual detention in France is generally limited to cases where the sentence is longer than two years.
Sarkozy, who has not received an arrest warrant, is almost certain to appeal the court’s decision.
The verdict is the latest turning point in the former president’s tumultuous political career. Sarkozy, 66, ruled France from 2007 to 2012; At the time, he also married former supermodel and singer Carl Bruni.
He remains the favorite of many right-wingers. The condemnation is likely to undermine any of his attempts to return to the top of politics, and while he himself denies such ambitions, many of his supporters are talking about it ahead of the 2022 presidential election.
After the end of his term, only one other French president, Jacques Chirac, Sarkozy’s political patron, was tried, but he did not have to participate in a corruption trial in 2011 due to poor health.
Chirac was sentenced to two years in prison for creating bogus jobs in the Paris city hall when he was mayor of the capital and was seeking funding for his party.
Sarkozy’s verdict relates to one of at least four separate investigations into him.
“Not the slightest act of corruption”
The former president told the court that “he has never committed the slightest act of corruption.”
Prosecutors tried to serve a four-year prison sentence, anticipating that at least half of that sentence would be served. Prosecutors sought the same penalties for the other defendants in the case: T. Herzog and Judge Gilbert Azibert.
“These events would not have occurred if a former president and also a lawyer had recalled the meaning of their position, [su juo susijusias] duties and responsibilities, “said prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon at the end of the trial in December.
Corruption and trafficking can affect imprisonment of up to 10 years and 1 million. a fine of EUR.
[ad_2]
