Paris (AFP)

An unprecedented decision: Nicolas Sarkozy became on Monday the first former president of the Fifth Republic convicted of corruption, to three years in prison, one of which was closed, in the so-called "tapping" affair.

He is also the second ex-head of state to be sanctioned by justice, after his former mentor Jacques Chirac, sentenced in December 2011 to two years in prison in the case of fictitious jobs in the city of Paris.

Nicolas Sarkozy, who has always claimed to have never committed "the slightest act of corruption", listened to the pronouncement of his sentence standing in front of the court, seeming impassive.

The former president and his lawyers made no statement leaving the room.

The judges also sentenced to the same sentence the former high magistrate Gilbert Azibert and the historical lawyer of the former president, Thierry Herzog, with 5 years of professional prohibition for the latter.

They were also found guilty of breach of professional secrecy.

Nicolas Sarkozy, who was "guarantor of the independence of justice, used his status as former president to reward a magistrate who served his personal interest", declared the president of the 32nd correctional chamber of Paris, Christine Mée, believing that the "corruption pact" was well constituted.

The court fell short of the requisitions of the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF), which had requested the same sentences of four years' imprisonment, two of which were firm against the three defendants.

The boss of this financial prosecutor's office, Jean-François Bohnert, was present in person for the judgment.

Withdrawn from politics since 2016 but still very popular on the right, a year before the next presidential election, Nicolas Sarkozy is under strong judicial pressure.

He is implicated in several cases, including that of suspicion of Libyan financing of his victorious 2007 campaign.

It was in the context of the latter case that he was wiretapped in 2013.

The judges then discover that Nicolas Sarkozy uses a secret telephone line, opened under the alias of "Paul Bismuth", to communicate with his lawyer Thierry Herzog.

About ten of their conversations were transcribed.

For the court, they prove that a "corruption pact" was concluded between Nicolas Sarkozy, his lawyer and Gilbert Azibert.

- Inside information -

The judges considered that the ex-president was guilty of corruption, by promising to support the candidacy of Mr. Azibert for a prestigious post in Monaco, in exchange for privileged information, even of an influence on a cassation appeal that he lodged.

The former tenant of the Elysee Palace then wanted to cancel the seizure of his presidential agendas after having obtained a dismissal in the Bettencourt affair.

Gilbert Azibert, general counsel in a civil chamber, did not intervene directly in this case but according to the court he played on his relations.

During the trial which ended on December 10, the defense protested against a case based on "fantasies" and "hypotheses" and had pleaded in unison for the release of the defendants.

She had argued that in the end, Nicolas Sarkozy did not succeed before the high court and that Gilbert Azibert never had a post in Monaco.

According to the law, however, it is not necessary for the consideration to have been obtained, nor for the influence to be real, to characterize the offenses of corruption and influence peddling.

Throughout the trial, in a stormy atmosphere, the defense had pounded a "trash" file, demanding the cancellation of the entire procedure, based according to it on "illegal" wiretapping because violating the secrecy of exchanges between a lawyer and his client.

The defendants' lawyers also torpedoed a parallel preliminary investigation conducted by the PNF.

Aiming to identify a possible mole having been able to inform Thierry Herzog in 2014 that the Bismuth line was "connected", it led to their detailed telephone bills ("fadettes") being peeled.

It was closed almost six years after it opened.

Three magistrates of the financial prosecutor's office, in particular his former head Eliane Houlette, have been targeted since September by an administrative investigation, the conclusions of which are imminent.

In this tense context, Mr. Bohnert had come in person on the day of the indictment to defend the institution just created when the "tapping" affair broke out, and to assure: "No one here is seeking revenge on a former President of the Republic".

© 2021 AFP