Historic ruling: former French president convicted of corruption
| Paris
A Paris court on Monday found French former President Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of corruption and influence peddling and sentenced him to one year in prison and a two-year suspended sentence.
Mr. Sarkozy, who was president from 2007 to 2012, was convicted for having tried to illegally obtain information from a senior magistrate in 2014 about a legal action in which he was involved.
The court said Mr. Sarkozy is entitled to request to be detained at home with an electronic bracelet.
This is the first time in France鈥檚 modern history that a former president has been convicted of corruption.
Mr. Sarkozy鈥檚 co-defendants 鈥� his lawyer and longtime friend Thierry Herzog, and now-retired magistrate Gilbert Azibert 鈥� were also found guilty and given the same sentence as the politician.
The court found that Mr. Sarkozy and his co-defendants sealed a 鈥減act of corruption,鈥� based on 鈥渃onsistent and serious evidence鈥�.
The court said the facts were 鈥減articularly serious鈥� given that they were committed by a former president who used his status to help a magistrate who had served his personal interest. In addition, as a lawyer by training, he was 鈥減erfectly informed鈥� about committing an illegal action, the court said.
Mr. Sarkozy had firmly denied all the allegations against him during the 10-day trial that took place at the end of last year.
The corruption trial focused on phone conversations that took place in February 2014.
At the time, investigative judges had launched an inquiry into the financing of the 2007 presidential campaign. During the investigation they incidentally discovered that Mr. Sarkozy and Mr. Herzog were communicating via secret mobile phones registered to the alias 鈥淧aul Bismuth.鈥�
Conversations wiretapped on these phones led prosecutors to suspect Mr. Sarkozy and Mr. Herzog of promising Mr. Azibert a job in Monaco in exchange for leaking information about another legal case, known by the name of France鈥檚 richest woman, L鈥橭real heiress Liliane Bettencourt.
In one of these phone calls with Mr. Herzog, Mr. Sarkozy said of Mr. Azibert: 鈥淚鈥檒l make him move up. ... I鈥檒l help him.鈥�
In another, Mr. Herzog reminded Mr. Sarkozy to 鈥渟ay a word鈥� for Mr. Azibert during a trip to Monaco.
Legal proceedings against Mr. Sarkozy have been dropped in the Bettencourt case. Mr. Azibert never got the Monaco job.
Prosecutors have concluded, however, that the 鈥渃learly stated promise鈥� constitutes in itself a corruption offense under French law, even if the promise wasn鈥檛 fulfilled.
Mr. Sarkozy vigorously denied any malicious intention.
He told the court that his political life was all about 鈥済iving [people] a little help. That all it is, a little help,鈥� he said during the trial.
The confidentiality of communications between a lawyer and his client was a major point of contention in the trial.
鈥淵ou have in front of you a man of whom more than 3,700 private conversations have been wiretapped. ... What did I do to deserve that?鈥� Mr. Sarkozy said during the trial.
Mr. Sarkozy鈥檚 defense lawyer, Jacqueline Laffont, argued the whole case was based on 鈥渟mall talk鈥� between a lawyer and his client.
The court concluded that the use of wiretapped conversations was legal as long as they helped show evidence of corruption-related offenses.
Mr. Sarkozy withdrew from active politics after failing to be chosen as his conservative party鈥檚 presidential candidate for France鈥檚 2017 election, won by Emmanuel Macron.
He remains very popular amid right-wing voters, however, and plays a major role behind the scenes, including through maintaining a relationship with Mr. Macron, whom he is said to advise on certain topics. His memoirs published last year, 鈥淭he Time of Storms,鈥� was a bestseller for weeks.
Mr. Sarkozy will face another trial later this month along with 13 other people on charges of illegal financing of his 2012 presidential campaign.
His conservative party is suspected of having spent 42.8 million euros ($50.7 million), almost twice the maximum authorized, to finance the campaign, which ended in victory for Socialist rival Francois Hollande.
In another investigation, opened in 2013, Mr. Sarkozy is accused of having taken millions from then-Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi to illegally finance his 2007 campaign.
He was handed preliminary charges of passive corruption, illegal campaign financing, concealment of stolen assets from Libya, and criminal association. He has denied wrongdoing.
This story was reported by The Associated Press.
