France’s highest court has upheld a ruling against former French President Nicolas Sarkozy for illegally financing his 2012 re-election campaign.
He was convicted of spending too much on his campaign and then hiring a public relations firm called Bygmalion to cover it up.
In 2024, Sarkozy, 70, was sentenced to a year in prison, of which six months were suspended, meaning he could serve it using an electronic tag instead of going to jail.
He has always denied all accusations.
Prosecutors in the case said Sarkozy’s UMP party spent almost double the maximum limit of €22.5m (£19.4m) on its campaign, splurging on lavish rallies and campaign events.
To hide the costs, the UMP asked Bygmalion to invoice the party, rather than the campaign.
Today’s is the second final conviction for the former president, who was in power from 2007 to 2012.
Last December, the High Court of Appeal upheld a corruption conviction and Sarkozy had to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet for six months.
Then, in September, he was sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of criminal conspiracy.
He spent 20 days in jail before being released in early November.
An appeal trial will be held next year. Until then, Sarkozy will be subject to strict judicial supervision and will be prohibited from leaving France.
Days after his release, Sarkozy’s team announced that the former president was writing a book about his three weeks in prison, titled “The Diary of a Prisoner.”
An excerpt from the book was published on social networks: “In prison there is nothing to see and nothing to do. I forget about the silence that does not exist in La Santé [prison]where there is a lot to listen to. Here the noise, unfortunately, is constant. But, as in the desert, the inner life is strengthened in prison.”
