Nicolas Sarkozy Fitted with Electronic Tag After Conviction for Corruption
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been fitted with an electronic tag following the loss of his appeal against a conviction for corruption and influence peddling. Sarkozy is now required to remain at his home in Paris between the hours of 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. However, he has been granted a temporary exemption that allows him to be outside until 9:30 p.m. three days a week while attending another trial related to allegations of accepting millions in illegal campaign funds from the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
If Sarkozy fails to adhere to the court-ordered hours of house arrest, an alarm will sound, alerting the authorities. His legal troubles date back to a bribery conviction regarding an attempt to manipulate judicial processes after he left office. In 2021, he was found guilty of trying to bribe a judge in 2014, which resulted in a three-year prison sentence, two of which were suspended.
The French Supreme Court rejected Sarkozy's appeal against this ruling in December, leading to the immediate enforcement of the electronic monitoring at his residence. Due to the ruling, the former president has been forced to cancel all evening plans and foreign trips. He has indicated that he intends to make a final appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, although this will not pause the enforcement of his sentence.
During the next year, if Sarkozy wishes to travel abroad, he will need to seek permission from the court. This situation marks a historic moment as it is the first time a former president of France has been subjected to electronic tagging.
Sarkozy served as the President of France from 2007 to 2012, and his legal troubles continue with a separate trial currently ongoing regarding the alleged illegal campaign funding from Gaddafi. This trial is a culmination of a decade-long investigation aimed at curbing corruption in political financing.
In contrast, Sarkozy's predecessor, Jacques Chirac, who passed away in 2019, was also embroiled in legal battles, having received a two-year suspended sentence in 2011 for his involvement in a fake jobs scandal while serving as mayor of Paris.
Sarkozy's lawyer, Jacqueline Laffont, spoke to the press, stating, "The legal procedure is following its course. I have no comment to make." As Sarkozy navigates these turbulent legal waters, he faces significant scrutiny as the first former leader in modern French history to endure such consequences.
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