"France's top court Wednesday will examine embattled former president Nicolas Sarkozy's final appeal over illegal campaign financing in 2012, in a case that could cement his second criminal conviction. Embroiled in legal problems since losing that year's presidential election, Sarkozy has been charged separately with corruption, bribery, influence-peddling and breaking campaign financing laws, but so far has managed to avoid time in jail."
"If the Court of Cassation upholds Sarkozy's conviction, he will serve a six-month term with an electronic bracelet as per a lightened sentence handed down on appeal in 2024. The former head of state was initially sentenced to one year in prison in September 2021 on charges that his right-wing party worked with a public relations firm, Bygmalion, to hide the true cost of his 2012 re-election bid."
France's Court of Cassation will hear former president Nicolas Sarkozy's final appeal over illegal financing of his 2012 campaign, potentially confirming a second criminal conviction. Sarkozy was initially sentenced to one year in prison in 2021 for the Bygmalion scheme, in which his party and a public relations firm hid campaign costs. Prosecutors say the campaign spent nearly €43 million, almost double the legal limit of €22.5 million. If the top court upholds the conviction, a lightened 2024 appellate sentence would impose six months' detention with an electronic bracelet. Sarkozy denies the allegations and faces separate convictions and appeals, including a five-year sentence linked to alleged Libyan funding.
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