Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy sentenced: Verdict goes down in history

Caught in the law

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, 66 years old, who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012, is currently an important member of the informal advisory council of current President Emmanuel Macron. But it seems that the halo of this politician's career is unlikely to last much longer, when on March 1, Mr. Sarkozy was convicted by a court of attempting to bribe a judge by offering to help him get a high-ranking position in Monaco. For illegally influencing a senior lawyer during his time in the presidency, Sarkozy was sentenced to prison, and also went down in history in an inglorious way, as his sentence marked the second time in modern French history that a former President had been convicted of corruption.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy (center) arrives for his trial on corruption charges at a Paris court on March 1. Photo: Mercopress

According to DW, the former French leader was sentenced to three years - including one year in prison and two years suspended. However, the court said that Mr. Sarkozy could still request to be placed under house arrest, but must wear an electronic monitoring bracelet. The court also stated that the promises Mr. Sarkozy had made were "particularly serious" because they came from a former president who took advantage of his position to help a judge who had personally benefited him. Not only that, as a former lawyer, Mr. Sarkozy should have understood better than anyone what constitutes illegal behavior.

Since leaving office in 2012, the politician in his sixties has had to repeatedlyfacing bribery chargesProsecutors have alleged that Mr Sarkozy tried to obtain information about another investigation into alleged financial irregularities within his party. To achieve this goal, Mr Sarkozy offered to help judge Gilbert Azibert secure a highly paid position as a legal adviser in Monaco. Under Monaco law, bribery and influence peddling can carry a sentence of up to 10 years and a fine of up to €1 million. However, Mr Sarkozy told the court that he had “never committed the slightest act of corruption”.

The famous "wiretapping" case

According to Western media, the case that was brought to trial earlier this week was prosecuted based on conversations and exchanges between Mr. Sarkozy and his former lawyer, Thierry Herzog. In France, public opinion calls this the "wiretapping case", because investigators have wiretapped phone calls between the two figures in 2013 and 2014. Along with that, they are also investigating allegations that Mr. Sarkozy received illegal money from Liliane Bettencourt - the heiress of the famous cosmetics company L'Oreal.

Former President Sarkozy used the pseudonym “Paul Bismuth” in those phone calls, when he discussed Judge Azibert with Herzog. The leader reportedly said: “I will let him advance, I will help him.”

Former President Sarkozy is still favored by many right-wingers. Photo: AP

Prosecutor Celine Guillet said there was solid evidence that Judge Azibert had passed confidential information about the Bettencourt case to his friend Herzog. She said one exchange even showed that Sarkozy had promised to intervene to help Azibert get a position in Monaco.

On the other side of the “battle line”, Mr. Sarkozy’s personal lawyer, Ms. Jacqueline Laffont, said that the prosecutor’s accusations were full of errors and “nonsense”. For her, the wiretapped conversations were simply “chats between friends”. The legal team behind the former French head of state also pointed out that Mr. Azibert never accepted any job in Monaco, but the prosecutors countered that, under French law, an offer or promise is enough to constitute a corruption charge.

Impact on political career?

According to several reporters from prestigious newspapers present at the trial in Paris, Monday's verdict was considered a "real blow" to the former French President. For example, from the perspective of Lisa Louis - a DW journalist, Mr. Sarkozy had hoped to "score points" in the trial that day, but everything fell apart, and the outcome of the trial even had a huge impact onpolitical careerThat is not to mention the fact that Mr. Sarkozy may be planning to return to the political stage to participate in the presidential race in 2022. But if that is indeed the plan, then everything is now much more difficult, arduous, if not impossible.

Former President Jacques Chirac was also prosecuted, but was spared execution due to poor health. Photo: Arab Weekly

Looking back, it is not difficult to see that, since leaving the top job when his term expired in 2012, Mr. Sarkozy has been repeatedly entangled in legal disputes. Although he was eventually cleared of all charges in the Bettencourt case, another investigation into allegations that the leader received millions of euros from Libya to “pour” into his 2007 election campaign is still ongoing. At that time, the late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was still in power. Mr. Sarkozy’s accuser, the French-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine, has also retracted his testimony that he had handed over suitcases full of cash from the Libyan leader. The story is not yet settled, but the long legal tangle has sunk Sarkozy's attempt to return to politics in the 2017 presidential race. Whether out of frustration or not, former lawyer Sarkozy has spoken out that the judiciary has animosity toward him, stemming from his efforts to limit the powers of judges when he was president.

The politician has been out of politics since 2018, but since last summer, he has been making frequent public appearances to promote his new book. Long lines of fans have been seen lining up in front of bookstores across France, waiting for Sarkozy to personally sign copies of his latest memoir “A Time of Storms” – a book that has been at the top of the bestseller lists for weeks. His name may have been somewhat “warmed up” in recent times, but with the painful blow of Monday’s court ruling, many people think that Mr. Sarkozy should reconsider his intention to “reappear” in the politics of the Fifth Republic, if any!