Nicolas Sarkozy was convicted on appeal in the Bygmalion affair for the “illegal financing” of his presidential campaign in 2012. He was sentenced to one year in prison, part of which was suspended.
Nicolas Sarkozy is convicted again in the Bygmalion affair. The man had already been found guilty of exceeding the legal spending limit during his 2012 presidential election campaign during his trial at first instance in 2021. Sentenced to one year in prison, he then appealed . The decision of the appeal judgment was rendered this Wednesday, February 14 and the Coup d’appel de Paris condemned the former President of the Republic, but the sentence handed down is less severe: one year in prison including six months suspended. The appeal went a little further than the prosecution’s requisitions, which had requested a one-year suspended prison sentence against the former head of state, by returning to the sentence required at first instance.
The former President found guilty of “illegal financing of an electoral campaign” has always denied having knowledge of or having benefited from the exceeding of the legal ceiling or from a system of false invoices set up by the UMP and the communications company Bygmalion to conceal unauthorized expenses. But the courts considered that the man who was then a presidential candidate in 2012 had been “warned in writing” of the risks of overspending, but had continued to organize meetings financed by fraudulent means.
A sentence adjustment for Sarkozy
If he is sentenced to prison for half of his sentence, Nicolas Sarkozy will not be incarcerated. The Court of Appeal ordered “the principle of adjustment of the firm part of the sentence” thus avoiding the former President of the Republic from being placed behind bars. To agree and implement the modification of the sentence, Nicolas Sarkozy will be summoned by a sentence enforcement judge within 30 days from this Wednesday, February 14.
As at the end of the first judgment in the Bygmalion case, the politician could decide to have the court decision reviewed with a cassation appeal. Neither Nicolas Sarkozy, nor his advisors and lawyers spoke when leaving the courtroom.
The politician denies “any criminal responsibility” in the Bygmalion affair
During the 2012 presidential campaign, Nicolas Sarkozy spent nearly 43 million euros, almost double the spending authorized by the Campaign Accounts Commission and set at 22.5 million. To circumvent the regulations, the UMP – now the Les Républicains party – had asked the communications company Bygmalion, with which it worked, to draw up false invoices which attributed the costs to the right-wing party and not to the presidential campaign of the former head of state.
During his appeal trial, which took place between November and December 2023, Nicolas Sarkozy always denied “any criminal responsibility” and pointed out “lies” concerning him. To clear his name, he accused those close to Jean-François Copé – who was head of the UMP at the time -, his cabinet and campaign director Jérôme Lavrilleux and the Bygmalion company of having enriched themselves. Jérôme Lavrilleux, the first defendant to have admitted the fraudulent expenses, was sentenced to two years in prison, 18 months of which were suspended, with a reduced prison sentence for forgery and use of forgery. As for the former directors of Bygmalion, Franck Attal and Guy Alves, they were respectively sentenced to 18 months and one year in prison and are prohibited from managing a company for five years.