During Nicolas Sarkozy’s appeal trial in the Bygmalion case, the former head of state vehemently defends himself from any excess and “vigorously contests any criminal liability”.
Nicolas Sarkozy back in court. The former head of state was heard by the judges this Friday as part of the appeal trial in the Bygmalion case. And he was categorical. “I vigorously contest any criminal liability because I had no knowledge of the fraud,” he declared at the start of his speech at the bar.
The trial, which began on November 8 at the Paris Court of Appeal, concerns the excessive spending of his presidential campaign in 2012. In a brief statement, the ex-president recalled having “assumed his political responsibility”, when the Constitutional Council refused “to reimburse a cent” of its lost 2012 campaign. “I assumed this responsibility, by finding 10.5 million euros from the people who love me, that’s what which was called the ‘Sarkothon’. This allows me to say that my campaign cost the taxpayer nothing”, he affirmed in front of the judges.
Nicolas Sarkozy contests
Nicolas Sarkozy is retried alongside nine other people who appealed, partially or in full, their conviction in September 2021. He faces, for “illegal campaign financing”, one year in prison and 3,750 euros in fines. fine. The man who was sentenced at first instance to one year in prison, subject to an electronic bracelet, has always “vigorously contested any criminal responsibility”, he repeated before the court of appeal.
Before the Court of Appeal today, Nicolas Sarkozy “disputes the need for false invoices. I ran the same campaign as in 2007 so I did not need double the budget.” This system, according to him, “was not put in place to make me win. But organized behind the back of my team to make money for a certain number of people”, targeting the Bygmalion company. “The question of where this money went is central. It did not go to my campaign.”
“Where is the crime?”
“Because I deny, and I hope to demonstrate, that I have never been aware of fraud, never requested fraud or even benefited from fraud. As noted by the investigating judge “, he clarified, before the start of his interrogation. “If I did not order, participate, if I was not informed, then where is the crime?” asked Nicolas Sarkozy.
Justice accuses him of having let the accounts of his presidential campaign slip away in 2012 despite alerts. This cost nearly 43 million euros, when the legal ceiling was set at 22.5 million euros. It was to hide this exceeding of the legal ceiling that a system of false invoices was put in place, according to the investigation. The criminal court had underlined in its judgment that the former head of state had “continued to organize” electoral meetings, “requesting one meeting per day”, even though he “had been warned in writing” of the risk exceedance authorized by law.