France: Ex-President Sarkozy Gets 3 Years in Prison For Corruption

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to three years in prison for corruption by a French court.

Delivering the verdict, the judge hearing the case said that these crimes have damaged public confidence.

Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France from 2007 to 2012, was accused of trying to bribe Judge Gilbert Azibert by offering him a high-ranking position in Monaco in exchange for providing intelligence on an investigation into his political party, the Republicans.

Investigators had wiretapped the secret phone line that used to contact former French President Gilbert Azibert and his lawyer, Thierry Herzog.

It was not immediately clear if Nicolas Sarkozy would appeal the sentence.

He was expected to run against Emmanuel Macron in next year’s presidential election.

Jacques Chirac was also convicted before Nicolas Sarkozy in 2011 but was suspended.

Nicolas Sarkozy was also arrested in March 2018 on charges of using foreign funding for the election campaign.

On the other hand, Sarkozy rejected the allegations against him in court as baseless. Along with him, two other people involved in the crime have also been sentenced to the same term.

A Paris court has ruled that the charges against Sarkozy are serious and accused the former president of illegally obtaining information from a senior magistrate.

The former French president is facing another lawsuit. He is accompanied by thirteen people. He is accused of receiving illegal funding during the 2012 presidential election campaign.

Earlier in March 2013, Nicolas Sarkozy was indicted for soliciting financial benefits from France’s richest woman.

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