Bygmalion affair: Nicolas Sarkozy sentenced to one year in prison including six months suspended on appeal
On Wednesday February 14, the Paris Court of Appeal sentenced Nicolas Sarkozy on appeal to one year's imprisonment, including six months suspended, in the Bygmalion affair over excessive spending during his lost 2012 presidential campaign.
Former President Nicolas Sarkozy arrives at the Paris court for the verdict in the Bygmalion affair trial on February 14, 2024. AFP - BERTRAND GUAY
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The six months in prison of the sentence imposed on the former president (2007-2012) will be adjusted, specified the president of the court in reading her decision, adding that the court had “
returned to the quantum required in first instance by the Public minister
".
In September 2021, the Paris criminal court
found Nicolas Sarkozy guilty
of having significantly exceeded the legal spending limit and sentenced him to one year in prison for illegal campaign financing. The court, however, requested that this sentence be carried out directly, at home, under electronic surveillance.
Thirteen other people were also sentenced to sentences of up to three and a half years in prison, part of which was suspended. Nicolas Sarkozy and nine other people appealed and were retried from November 8 to December 7.
Double billing system
In this case, investigations revealed that to hide the explosion in his campaign's expenses - nearly 43 million euros for an authorized maximum of 22.5 million - a double invoicing system had been put in place attributing to the UMP, under cover of fictitious conventions, a large part of the cost of meetings. Unlike his co-defendants, the former head of state is not accused of this system of false invoices.
Nicolas Sarkozy, as during the first trial,
“ vigorously
contested
any criminal responsibility ”
, denouncing “
fables
” and “
lies
”. His lawyer, Me Vincent Desry, pleaded for his release, ensuring that the former head of state had “
never been aware of an excess
” of the legal ceiling for electoral expenses and “
never incurred any expenses
”. He considered that it had been “
impossible
” for the public prosecutor to “
demonstrate
the intentional element ” nor “
the
material element ” of the alleged offense.
(
With
AFP)
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