Nicolas Sarkozy is sentenced again in the “Pygmalion” case: he may return to prison

On Wednesday afternoon, the Court of Cassation finally convicted former conservative French President Nicolas Sarkozy in the corruption-related Pygmalion case. Funding his election campaign and false double accounting. He won’t go to prison yet

This is the second conviction of the former head of state, who was recently released from Santi prison after 20 days in prison on charges of Libyan financing of his election campaign. On December 10, he will publish “Memoirs of a Prisoner.” Memories of about three weeks In prison, freed by Fayard, and owned by his friend Vincent Bolloré.

The former president’s appeal against his conviction in the Pygmalion case was heard on Wednesday, November 26.

In the Pygmalion case, the Paris Court of Appeal convicted former President Nicolas Sarkozy on February 14, 2024. Up to one year in prisonincluded Mandatory imprisonment for six monthsCharged with illegal financing of his 2012 presidential campaign.

Now, a liberty judge must determine how the former president should serve this new sentence.

The Court of Cassation on Wednesday heard Sarkozy’s appeal against his conviction in the Pygmalion case: a final legal appeal in the case that was almost overshadowed by the earthquake that led to the former president’s previous imprisonment.

The Court of Cassation ruled to reject the appeal (or reject the appeal), in violation of the recommendation of the Public Prosecutor, and He categorically condemned the former president.

The court wrote in a statement: “The Court of Cassation confirms the decision of the Court of Appeal that convicted a presidential candidate, his campaign manager, and two directors of the political party that supported him, on charges of illegally financing the election campaign.”

The Attorney General had requested that the appeal of the former head of state be rejected.

Nicolas Sarkozy is accused After he benefited from illegal funding for his failed presidential campaign in 2012. According to the investigation, candidate Sarkozy’s campaign expenses amounted to 42.7 million euros. Nearly twice the amount allowed by law.

To hide this excess spending, which amounts to about twenty million euros, It was possible to create a system of counterfeit invoices The political communications firm Bygmalion and its subsidiary Event & Cie were supposed to bill the party, the Union for a Popular Movement (now known as Los Republicos), for expenses that were actually related to the campaign.

Unlike his co-accused, the former head of state was not involved in this system of false invoices; He benefitedAs a candidate, with illegal political financing.

Without reconsidering the facts, the Court of Cassation considered the legal legitimacy of the ruling issued on appeal on February 14, 2024: a one-year prison sentence, including six months suspended.

At the beginning of October, during a hearing, the Public Prosecutor requested that the appeal of the former head of state be dismissed. But the highest court in the French judicial system decided to postpone its decision until today, November 26.

At both the initial trial and the appeal, Nicolas Sarkozy “vigorously challenged any criminal liability,” denouncing it “Myths” and “lies”.

His appeal ruling, for which the court ordered that the custodial portion of the sentence be modified (e.g. electronic anklet or semi-freedom), was slightly less than the one-year prison sentence imposed on him in the 2021 first instance case.

But this is not the only trial Sarkozy faces. Appeal trial of the former President of the Republic The issue of Libyan financing Related to his 2007 presidential campaign, it will be held from March 16 to June 3. In this case he was arrested in the first place and released after 20 days.

The former head of state was sentenced to five years in prison, with a preliminary arrest warrant, on 25 September. He spent three weeks in prison before being released under judicial supervision.

The former president, who repeatedly declared his innocence in the Pygmalion case, was sentenced to one year in prison.

The imprisonment of the former head of state in La Sainte prison in Paris was overshadowed by this appeal before the Court of Cassation, which was suspended at the time. This was the last legal resort Available under French law in this case.

In December 2024, the Court of Cassation upheld Nicolas Sarkozy’s sentence to one year in prison under electronic monitoring on charges of corruption and influence peddling in the phone hacking case, also known as the “Bismuth” case. The former head of state, now 70 years old, served his sentence between February and May, before being released on parole before the halfway point of his sentence, particularly due to his age.

This new final conviction would further complicate the legal prospects of Nicolas Sarkozy, who is preparing for an appeal trial in the Libyan case, scheduled to take place from March 16 to June 3.

The former president will narrate his experience in prison in a book entitled “Memoirs of a Prisoner,” which will be published exactly a month after his release.

Announcement of publication Diary of a prisoner It has already sparked many reactions in the political and media spheres. Some see it as an attempt at rehabilitation. Others, such as the desire to provide an unprecedented description of the prison experience of a former head of state.

This book from Fayard Publishing promises to review the conditions of his detention in La Santé prison, Nicolas Sarkozy’s reflections on justice and politics, as well as the personal and public consequences of his convictions.

Sarkozy was arrested in 12 meter cell A courtyard, with a bathroom, is isolated due to death threats and guarded by prison guards, but also under police guard as a former president. An unprecedented fact.

The book could also influence public opinion about the ongoing judicial processes, as the former president continues to denounce the injustices he faces and asserts that judges consider him their enemy.