FRANCE
Bad Boys
A French court sentenced former President Nicholas Sarkozy to one year in prison and a two-year suspended sentence, after finding him guilty of corruption and influence peddling, the Financial Times reported Monday.
The court found that the former center-right leader had entered a “corruption pact” with his lawyer Thierry Herzog and former judge Gilbert Azibert. Both individuals received the same sentence as Sarkozy.
In a trial that concluded in December, prosecutors accused Sarkozy and his lawyer of attempting to bribe the judge in exchange for confidential information on an inquiry looking into allegations that during his 2007 presidential campaign, Sarkozy took illegal payments from L’Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt. The Bettencourt case was later dropped.
Sarkozy maintained his innocence but the French leader is embroiled in other legal battles and investigations, including allegations that the Libyan government funded his successful 2007 campaign.
Monday’s conviction marks the second time a French president in France’s Fifth Republic was convicted after leaving office: The late Jacques Chirac was convicted in 2011 of misusing public funds when he was mayor of Paris. He was given a suspended sentence.
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