Brussels – The French Supreme Court has dismissed Nicolas Sarkozy‘s appeal in the “Bygmalion” case, linked to fake invoices during the 2012 election campaign. The verdict makes final the one-year prison sentence, of which six months are to be served without parole, handed down in February 2024. The execution judge will decide the modalities of the execution of the sentence in the coming months. However, a return to prison is excluded, since alternative methods of detention may be envisaged.
The other episode
The conviction is the second final one for the former president and comes on top of the one that landed him in prison last month. In that case, links with Gaddafi’s Libya, accusations of bribery and trafficking of influence during the 2007 presidential campaign were alleged. In that case, too, France’s highest court had made the one-year prison sentence without parole final. As a result of those charges, Sarkozy was imprisoned from 21 October to 10 November and is now on probation, awaiting the judge’s decision on how the remainder of his sentence should be served.
Expenses double the legal limit
The verdict issued today concerns the 2012 election campaign. The responsibilities of the then-president consisted of having organised a series of false invoices to bring the presidential campaign’s expenditure within legal limits. It was the company Bygmalion that gave the case its name. According to the prosecution, Sarkozy’s knowledge of the facts could not be excluded, as accountants had warned him that he was exceeding the €22.5 million ceiling, but he insisted on organising more events to defeat the other candidate, François Hollande, who was gaining ground. Expenditure on electoral propaganda reached a record €43 million, an effort that proved futile given his opponent’s final victory. The former president has always rejected the accusations, calling them “fairy tales.”
The defence, however, remains unchanged despite the conviction. His lawyers have announced that they will consider, together with the former president, the possibility of filing a final appeal before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
