China News Agency, Paris, March 1 (Reporter Li Yang) On the 1st local time, a court in Paris, France ruled on the corruption case of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Sarkozy was found guilty and sentenced to punishment.

Sarkozy said through his lawyer that he would appeal.

　　According to the court verdict, Sarkozy was sentenced to 3 years, suspended for 2 years.

Two other co-defendants, Azibel and Herzog, who were on trial with Sarkozy, were sentenced to the same punishment as Sarkozy.

Azibel and Herzog also said they would appeal.

　　Sarkozy went to the court on the same day to hear the verdict and left quickly, without personally making any statement at the scene.

Sarkozy's lawyer Lafeng criticized the relevant verdict for "lack of basis."

She said that Sarkozy was “determined to continue to prove his innocence in the relevant case” and he will appeal.

　　According to a previous report by Agence France-Presse, Sarkozy was accused in 2013 of illegally accepting funding from the late heir Liliana Bettencourt of L'Oréal in the 2007 presidential campaign.

Sarkozy was also accused of obtaining inside information related to the above-mentioned case and promising to obtain a "easy Monaco position" for Azibel.

At that time, Azibel was an influential criminal court judge and was believed to be aware of the progress of the case.

　　French prosecutors monitored the phone calls between Sarkozy and his lawyer Herzog.

According to the prosecution's indictment, Sarkozy once told Herzog that he would "promote" Azibel.

Sarkozy himself denied this on different occasions and said that Azibel did not obtain any position in Monaco.

But the prosecution believes that Sarkozy bribed Azibel in disguise, regardless of success or failure.

　　French public opinion commented on this, saying that this is the first time since the establishment of the Fifth Republic of France in 1958 that a former head of state of France has been sentenced on corruption charges and will face imprisonment.

Agence France-Presse quoted court news reports that Sarkozy will be able to apply to serve his sentence in electronic handcuffs outside the prison.

　　Sarkozy was born in Paris in 1955 and served as President of France from 2007 to 2012.

He has been involved in lawsuits in recent years, but he still shows up frequently in public.

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