Nicolas Sarkozy will be the first French President to go to prison. The 70-year-old politician has been found guilty by the Paris Criminal Court of criminal conspiracy in the case of suspected financing of his 2007 campaign by Muammar Gaddafi.
The sentence was handed down on Thursday with a deferred committal order, meaning that Sarkozy will not be going to prison immediately. But the provisional execution of the sentence means that it cannot be suspended by an appeal. The former president will be incarcerated in about a month’s time. Like any prisoner, he will be able to apply for a modified sentence. As he is over 70, he will even be able to request this immediately after his sentence begins.
The news of Sarkozy’s sentencing came as a political shock. Leaving the courtroom, the former president described the decision as “extremely serious for the rule of law” and “the confidence we can have in justice.” He continued: “I will assume my responsibilities. I will comply with the summonses of the courts. And if they absolutely want me to sleep in prison, I’ll sleep in prison. But with my head held high. I am innocent.”
The former president was also fined 100,000 euros and stripped of his civil rights. However, he was acquitted of the bribery charges against him. In reading out the 400 pages of deliberations, the president of the 32nd chamber stated that the legal proceedings had not made it possible to “demonstrate that the money that left Libya” had “ultimately” been used to finance his campaign.
“In the court’s view, the material elements of the bribery offense have not been established,” argued head judge Nathalie Gavarino, explaining the acquittal of the bribery charges. The judges did, however, find that “as Minister and President of the UMP,” Sarkozy had “allowed his close collaborators and political supporters, over whom he had authority and who acted in his name,” to solicit the Libyan authorities “in order to obtain or attempt to obtain financial support in Libya with a view to obtaining financing for the 2007 campaign.”
“I am therefore condemned for having allegedly allowed two of my collaborators to come up with the idea of illegally financing my campaign,” said the former president as he left the courtroom.
A total of 12 defendants were on trial last March in this case, including the former head of state and three former ministers. Sarkozy was charged with “concealment of misappropriation of public funds,” “passive corruption,” “illegal financing of an electoral campaign,” and “criminal conspiracy.” He was facing up to ten years in jail, the prosecution having requested seven years.
Originally appeared in Vanity Fair France.
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