Published: 10:04pm, 26 Nov 2025Updated: 10:08pm, 26 Nov 2025
France’s top court on Wednesday upheld Nicolas Sarkozy’s conviction for illegal campaign financing of his re-election bid in 2012 in another blow to France’s former president’s legacy and reputation.
The decision by the Court of Cassation makes definitive Sarkozy’s conviction to a year in prison, half of it suspended, for fraudulently overspending on the failed campaign.
Under French law, the sentence can be served at home, monitored with an electronic bracelet or other requirements set by a judge.
Advertisement
The decision comes just two weeks after his release from prison pending an appeal in another campaign financing case. Sarkozy, 70, was incarcerated for 20 days in Paris’ La Sante prison, after judges convicted him of scheming to get secret financing from Libya in his winning campaign for the French presidency in 2007.
He has denied any wrongdoing.
Ruling’s meaning
A Paris court in 2021 and an appeal court in 2024 convicted Sarkozy of illegal campaign financing in 2012. He is accused of having spent almost twice the maximum legal amount of 22.5 million euros (US$25.5 million) on the re-election bid that he lost to Francois Hollande, a socialist.