Former French president Sarkozy sentenced to jail for corruption
BBC.COM | Tuesday March 2, 2021 11:24
He was convicted of trying to bribe a judge in 2014 - after he had left office - by suggesting he could secure a prestigious job for him in return for information about a separate case.
Sarkozy, 66, is the first former French president to get a custodial sentence.
His lawyer says he will appeal. Sarkozy will remain free during that process which could take years.
In the ruling, Judge Christine Mée said the conservative politician 'knew what [he] was doing was wrong', adding that his actions and those of his lawyer had given the public 'a very bad image of justice'.
The crimes were specified as influence-peddling and violation of professional secrecy.
It is a legal landmark for post-war France. The only precedent was the trial of Sarkozy's predecessor Jacques Chirac, who got a two-year suspended sentence in 2011 for having arranged bogus jobs at Paris City Hall for allies when he was Paris mayor. Chirac died in 2019.
If Sarkozy's appeal is unsuccessful, he could serve a year at home with an electronic tag, rather than go to prison.
His wife, supermodel and singer Carla Bruni, reacted by describing the case as 'senseless persecution', adding that 'the fight continued, and truth would come out'.