The then Secretary of State to the President and former Interior Minister, Claude Guéant, was sentenced in Paris on Friday to one year in prison, four months of which was suspended. The 77-year-old was imprisoned shortly before Christmas because he did not meet the money requirements after another conviction, a procedure that was probably unique for a former top politician in France. He may be able to serve his sentence at home with an electronic ankle bracelet.
Other advisors to ex-President Sarkozy during his term of office from 2007 to 2012 were sentenced to suspended sentences and fines of up to 150,000 euros. One defendant was acquitted. Sarkozy himself was not in the dock in the proceedings, but was heard as a witness. He has immunity for his term of office. The 66-year-old is involved in various other legal proceedings.
The process was about the fact that the failure to observe procurement rules and other irregularities in the government palace caused damage to the public in the millions. In 2009, the Court of Auditors criticized irregularities in surveys commissioned by the Presidential Palace. Contracts for surveys were signed with the firms of two of Sarkozy’s consultants without the contracts being put out to tender. Rules were also not observed in further awards. Several opinion research institutes received fines of up to one million euros.