French court confirms Sarkozy guilty verdict, cuts sentence

Paris: A French appeals court on Wednesday reduced the jail term for former President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was convicted of illegal campaign funding while running for reelection in 2012.

In 2021, a lower court had sentenced Sarkozy to one year in prison in the case, but but the sentence was suspended while he appealed.

Now, the Paris appeals court said the ex-president should serve only six months in jail, with another six months suspended. The sentence can be served through alternative means, such as wearing an electronic bracelet, without going to jail.

Sarkozy's lawyer Vincent Desry immediately said the ex-president would challenge the appeal verdict at France's highest court. "Mr Nicolas Sarkozy is fully innocent. He has taken note of this decision and he has decided to appeal to the Court of Cassation," he said.

Sarkozy won the 2007 election with 53.1% of the vote, but he lost the 2012 election to Socialist candidate Francois Hollande.

In France, candidates are only allowed to spend €22.5 million ($24.1 million) on a presidential campaign. Prosecutors said Sarkozy spent nearly €43 million in the 2012 campaign, the excess of which was then disguised through a series of fictitious invoices by his then-party UMP.

But Sarkozy has always denied reports that his Les Republicains party, then known as the UMP, worked with a public relations firm called Bygmalion to hide the true cost of his campaign.

During a hearing, Sarkozy put the blame on some members of his campaign team: "I didn't choose any supplier," he told the court. "I didn't sign any quotation, any invoice."

Since his single term in office between 2007 and 2012, Sarkozy has faced a litany of legal problems. He has been accused of corruption, bribery, influence peddling, and campaign finance violations in a series of cases.

The ex-president is set to face trial in 2025 on charges of receiving money from the now-deceased Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi to finance his 2007 campaign.

But despite his legal troubles, Sarkozy enjoys considerable influence and popularity on the right of French politics. He has also maintained a relationship with President Emmanuel Macron. The two have dined together on several occasions to discuss politics, French media reported.