Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy will request the merger of two sentences related to corruption and illegal campaign financing before a Paris court. He is expected to rely on the electronic bracelet he has worn in the past.
On Monday, a Paris court will consider former French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s request to merge the two sentences he received in cases related to corruption and illegal financing of the election campaign. TASR informs about it based on the AFP report.
“A request to combine sentences is a completely normal procedure in such a situation,” said Sarkozy’s lawyer Vincent Desry.
Two judgments
In December 2024, the Court of Appeal upheld the former president’s conviction in the Bismuth case, in which he tried to bribe a judge in exchange for information about his court proceedings. He was sentenced to three years in prison, two of which were suspended and one was to be under house arrest with an electronic monitoring bracelet. However, in May of last year, the tracking device was removed, which Sarkozy was allowed by his age, as he turned 70.
Last November, the court issued a second final verdict in the case known as Bygmalion, related to the illegal financing of his failed campaign in 2012. The French Supreme Court sentenced him to six months in prison with electronic monitoring.
The request for the consolidation of sentences
In a closed hearing, Sarkozy will ask that his six-month sentence in the Bygmalion case be considered served on the basis that he was already wearing an electronic bracelet in connection with the Bismuth case.
Such a request is only possible if several conditions are met, including that the sentences in the different court proceedings are of the same nature and that all appeals have been exhausted.
Sarkozy will also appear in court again on March 16 when an appeal begins in another case involving the alleged financing of his 2007 election campaign by then-Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. At the end of last year, he served 20 days in prison in this case, but based on a judge’s order, he was released pending appeal.
