A Parish court has declared Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s former president, guilty of the corruption charges against him.
The court also found him guilty of “influence peddling”, sentencing him to one year in prison and a two-year suspended sentence.
The 66-year-old who served as president from 2007 to 2012, was convicted on Monday for having tried to illegally obtain information from a senior magistrate in 2014 about a legal action in which he was involved.
According to a BBC report, prosecutors told the judges that Sarkozy had offered to secure a job in Monaco for judge Gilbert Azibert, in exchange for confidential information about allegations that he had accepted illegal payments from L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt for his 2007 presidential campaign.
This came to light while they were wiretapping conversations between Sarkozy and his lawyer Thierry Herzog after the right-wing leader left office. The wiretapping was carried out in relation to another investigation into alleged Libyan financing of the same campaign.
The court said Sarkozy, a former lawyer himself, was “perfectly informed” about committing such illegal action. His two co-defendants were also found guilty and handed the same sentence.
Sarkozy however, denied any wrongdoing, saying he was the victim of a witch-hunt by financial prosecutors who used excessive means to snoop on his affairs. He now has 10 days to appeal Monday’s ruling.
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