On Thursday, a Paris court convicted former French President Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of unlawful campaign funding during his unsuccessful 2012 re-election attempt. Sarkozy, who led France from 2007 to 2012 and remains popular among conservatives despite his legal troubles, was found guilty this year’s second time. The court has not yet decided on a punishment for him.
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Prosecutors asked for a one-year jail term for the 66-year-old former president, with half of it suspended. He is unlikely to go to jail right now since he is anticipated to appeal the sentence. Prosecutors claim that his conservative party spent nearly twice the legal limit of 22.5 million euros on lavish campaign rallies, then hired a sympathetic public relations firm to disguise the expense.
Sarkozy has categorically denied any wrongdoing. In June, he told the court that he was not involved in the mechanics of his re-election campaign or how money was spent in the run-up to the election. The court, however, found that Sarkozy was made aware of the expenditures, that he did nothing about it, and that he did not need to authorize each expenditure to be accountable.
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In March, Sarkozy was convicted of bribing a judge and peddle influence to gain private information about a judicial investigation in a separate trial. In this case, he likewise denied any misconduct. In that trial, the former president was sentenced to three years in prison, two of which were suspended, but he has yet to serve any time in prison because his appeal is still ongoing.
