Paris (AFP)
A majority of French people (62%) think that political figures are treated "less severely" by the courts than ordinary citizens and 50% that Nicolas Sarkozy, recently sentenced to prison, is "better than a simple citizen ", according to an Ifop poll for the Journal du Dimanche.
On the other hand, only 12% of those questioned consider that politicians are treated "more severely" than ordinary citizens, and 26% "neither more nor less severely".
Among the sympathizers of the Republicans, the party of Nicolas Sarkozy, they are only 19% to think that the political personalities are treated "less severely" than the ordinary citizens, instead of 79% among the Greens, 75% at LFI, 73 % at the PS, 70% at the RN, and 56% at LREM.
In response to another question on Nicolas Sarkozy, sentenced last week to three years' imprisonment, including one firm, for "corruption" in the so-called wiretapping affair, the French are 22% to estimate that Nicolas Sarkozy is treated by justice "less well than a simple citizen" and 28% "like a simple citizen".
If 50% of French people consider that the former president is treated by justice "better than a simple citizen", only 14% of Republicans think so.
Survey carried out by self-administered online questionnaire from March 4 to 5, 2021, with a sample of 1,012 people, representative of the French population aged 18 and over, according to the quota method.
Margin of error between 1.4 and 3.1 points.
© 2021 AFP