Former French President Sarkozy found guilty of corruption
Nicolas Sarkozy, the former French president, was found guilty of corruption on Monday for attempting to bribe a judge and sentenced to three years in prison.
The 66-year-old former premier attempted to bribe a judge by offering him a prestigious job in return for information regarding separate criminal proceedings against him regarding allegations that he had accepted illegal payments from L'Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt during his 2007 presidential bid.
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He is the first former French president to be handed a custodial sentence. However, his predecessor, Jacques Chirac, received a two-year suspended sentence in 2011 for having arranged bogus jobs at Paris City Hall for allies when he was Paris mayor.
Court rumblings indicate Sarkozy may not be due any prison time, owing to two years of his sentence being suspended and a judge accepting him wearing an electronic tracker or being confined to his home as an alternative to imprisonment.
The magistrate he attempted to bribe and his lawyer have also received similar sentences. All three are expected to appeal, with Sarkozy having a 10-day deadline in which to do so.
The case centres around taped clipped between the magistrate and Sarkozy's lawyer from 2014.
Whether Sarkozy will face jail time or get off with the lighter alternatives are to be dictated at a different hearing.
The former president remained silent as he left the court but has constantly proclaimed his innocence, stating he was the victim of a "witch-hunt" by financial prosecutors.
Prosecutors initially sought a four-year term for Sarkozy, two of which would be suspended.
Presiding judge Christine Mee told the court that Sarkozy “took advantage of his status and the relationships he had made" and that there was serious evidence of a "corrupt pact" between the three parties.
Before his trial last year, the former president welcomed the trial as a chance to clear his name.
The verdict was delivered to a shocked silent Paris court on Monday morning.
Sarkozy told BFMTV: “I am combative. I have no intention of being accused of things I haven’t done. I’m not corrupt and what has been inflicted on me is a scandal that will rest in the annals. The truth will out."
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Sarkozy is due to appear in court again in March for the so-called "Bygmalion affair," which posits that he overspent on his unsuccessful 2012 re-election bid which he lost to François Hollande.
The ruling has diminished hopes for him reigniting his political ambitions ahead of the nation's 2022 election.
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