Sarkozy's appeal against prison sentence rejected

A new development has occurred in the case of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was tried for exceeding the legal spending limit during his 2012 presidential campaign. Sarkozy's appeal against the 1-year prison sentence issued by the Paris Court of Appeal on February 14, 2024, was rejected by France's Court of Cassation, and the former President's conviction has become final.

The investigation revealed that during the 2012 campaign, where the legal limit was 22.5 million euros, Sarkozy spent approximately 43 million euros. To conceal this excess, it was determined that a significant portion of the costs for rallies and large meetings was billed to the treasury of the then-ruling party UMP (Union for a Popular Movement) under the guise of "fictitious congresses and party events" through the communication agency "Bygmalion" and its affiliated companies.

This method was described in the case file as a "double billing system." The court did not hold Sarkozy responsible for organizing the system himself, but the former President was sentenced on the grounds that, as a candidate, he benefited politically from the excessive spending in the campaign. The court also concluded that despite warnings from accountants regarding campaign accounts, he did not prevent the spending from spiraling out of control and turned a blind eye to the exceeding of the legal limit. Sarkozy, both in the first instance trial and on appeal, stated that he "denied all criminal responsibility."

In the Bygmalion case, alongside Sarkozy, many defendants including former Campaign Manager Guillaume Lambert, former UMP executives Eric Cesari and Pierre Chassat, Jerome Lavrilleux, who played a role in the campaign organization, and Bygmalion executives were sentenced to various prison terms, bans from politics, and bans from holding management positions. The French Court of Cassation also rejected the appeals filed by these individuals and upheld the decisions of the Court of Appeal.

Sarkozy is expected to be summoned to court by an enforcement judge in the future to determine the method of serving the sentence. Serving the sentence at home with an electronic tag, as in his previous conviction, is among the likely options.

LIBYA CASE AND OTHER FILES

Outside of the Bygmalion file, Sarkozy has also faced trial due to other cases. The former President was sentenced to 5 years in prison by the Paris Criminal Court on September 25, 2025, in the case regarding allegations that his 2007 presidential campaign was illegally financed by the regime of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Following the decision, it was ruled that the sentence be executed without waiting for the appeal process, and Sarkozy entered La Sante Prison in Paris on October 21, 2025. After spending approximately 20 days in prison, Sarkozy was released under judicial control on November 10, 2025, by a decision of the Paris Court of Appeal. The sentence in the Libya file is still in the appeal stage. Sarkozy is expected to appear before the judge again in Paris between March 16 and June 3, 2026, for the appeal trial regarding this file.

In addition, the 1-year prison sentence given in 2024 in the "wiretapping" case conducted against Sarkozy was served as house arrest with an electronic tag, and this decision was recorded as the former President's first final conviction.

News Source: İHA