Rafael Yaghobzadeh
Six months of this should be suspended, as the AFP news agency reported from the courtroom on Thursday. In addition, the 66-year-old is said to pay a fine of 3750 euros. The Conservative ruled the Élysée Palace from 2007 to 2012.
Sarkozy had denied the allegations in court. In the 2012 election campaign, he said, they didn’t go too far. The former hope of the civil right in France is accused of illegally financing the ultimately failed campaign for his re-election. The negotiations in the process should end in the coming week according to the previous planning. The judgment will then only be announced at a later date.
13 other defendants have to answer in court for fraud or aiding and abetting. In France, spending on an election campaign is capped in order to create more equality of opportunity between candidates. The upper limit allowed at that time was 22.5 million euros. In fact, Sarkozy’s team is said to have spent at least 42.8 million.
In order to cover up the overspending, expenses are said to have been camouflaged by a system of fictitious invoices from his former UMP party, which has since been renamed Republican. The judiciary is also investigating in a separate investigation into alleged payments made by Libya in the 2007 election campaign. In another affair, Sarkozy was sentenced in March to three years’ imprisonment, two of which were suspended, for bribery and illicit influence. He then announced that he would appeal.