"The ruling comes after Sarkozy, a one-term president from 2007 to 2012, was sent to jail last month in a separate case, related to alleged Libyan funding in his earlier election campaign. The 70-year-old's 20 days in jail made him the first post-war French leader to serve time behind bars, before his release earlier this month pending an appeals trial."
"Prosecutors argued Sarkozy's right-wing party worked with a public relations firm, Bygmalion, to hide the true cost of his 2012 electoral campaign. They said he spent nearly €43 million on his 2012 campaign, nearly double the permitted amount of €22.5 million. Unlike his co-defendants, he was not implicated in the double-billing system allegedly used to cover costs but was held accountable as the beneficiary of illegal campaign financing."
"The Court of Cassation on Wednesday said Sarkozy was "definitively convicted" in the 2012 campaign financing case, upholding the ruling of an appeals court last year that sentenced him to a six-month term with an electronic tag. Sarkozy has denied "any criminal responsibility", denouncing the allegations as "lies". But his lawyers, Patrice Spinosi and Emmanuel Piwnica, in a joint statement, told AFP that he had taken note of the Court of Cassation's decision."
France's highest court upheld a definitive conviction of former president Nicolas Sarkozy for illegal financing of his 2012 re-election campaign, confirming an appeals court sentence of six months with an electronic tag. Prosecutors said Sarkozy's right-wing party worked with public relations firm Bygmalion to conceal campaign costs, with total spending near €43 million versus the €22.5 million limit. Sarkozy was not found to have run the alleged double-billing scheme but was held liable as the beneficiary of illegal financing. Sarkozy denies criminal responsibility. He previously served 20 days in jail in a separate Libyan-funding case and faces an upcoming trial.
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