© EPA-EFE/YOAN VALAT Nicolas Sarkozy defended Kremlin dictator Putin and called on Ukraine to accept Russia's occupation of Crimea and other territories.
On May 7, a judicial ruling to ease the punishment of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy became valid: he received parole regarding the matter of exceeding campaign expenditures in 2012. The court satisfied the request of the 71-year-old Sarkozy to alleviate his sentence due to his age, DW indicated on May 7.
This is about a verdict related to the PR firm Bygmalion, which supported Sarkozy’s 2012 electoral bid. The court determined that the politician’s party received over 18 million euros from Bygmalion, which were subsequently not registered as official expenses, leading to Sarkozy being sentenced to one year of imprisonment.
Considering the type of offense, the term was promptly diminished to six months with the chance to substitute confinement with the use of an electronic tag. Currently, the politician is relieved from wearing the tag.
Nicolas Sarkozy, who held the position of President of France from 2007 to 2012, became the initial former head of state to be given an actual jail sentence.
Beyond the judgment in the Bygmalion PR agency affair, in March 2021, the politician was declared guilty of corruption and bribing a worker of the French Court of Cassation. At that time, Sarkozy received a one-year prison sentence and an additional two years suspended, but the real sentence was substituted by partial house arrest and wearing an electronic tracking device.
In September 2025, Nicolas Sarkozy was deemed culpable of criminal conspiracy within the context of his electoral campaign funding by the Libyan government under Muammar Gaddafi between 2005 and 2007.
The court decreed a five-year jail term with a suspension. In October 2025, Sarkozy served 20 days in custody and was freed under legal supervision. The court is presently reviewing an appeal in this instance.
It’s worth mentioning that following prominent corruption controversies and trials, Nicolas Sarkozy was deprived of the Legion of Honour, the most esteemed state decoration of the nation.
The High Court has confirmed Sarkozy’s conviction related to corruption and misuse of influence. This marks the first occurrence of such a case in French history, and Sarkozy himself has faced judicial processes ever since his departure from his presidential role in 2012.