When a Paris court handed Nicolas Sarkozy a five-year prison sentence on Thursday – for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to get election campaign funds from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gadafy – it was a historic moment for modern France.
The right-wing Sarkozy, who served as president between 2007 and 2012, was known in office not just for his hard line on immigration and national identity but for championing harsher sentencing for delinquents. He is now expected to enter jail within a matter of months.
It is a spectacular downfall and a turning point in France’s long-running struggle to deal with graft and criminal allegations against politicians.
Sarkozy’s sentence is the first time in modern French history that a former president has been ordered to turn up at the prison gates and serve time inside. Criminal investigations and trials of serving and former French politicians are not new, and voters’ trust in elected officials’ integrity has been in steady decline, but judges in Sarkozy’s trial appeared to want to send a message that politicians will not get an easy ride.
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As Sarkozy (70), sat in court flanked by his wife, the singer Carla Bruni Sarkozy, and his three adult sons, judges surprised the public benches by ordering a particularly strict special provision that means Sarkozy will be incarcerated by appointment at a future date no later than February 13th. He has been summoned to a first meeting with the state prosecutor on October 13th to fix a date.
The head judge, Nathalie Gavarino, justified the sentence by saying the facts of the case were of an “exceptional gravity” and “likely to undermine citizens’ trust”.
Sarkozy was found guilty of criminal conspiracy over efforts by close aides to procure funds for his successful 2007 presidential bid from Libya during Gadafy’s time in power. Gadafy was overthrown and killed in 2011.
Sarkozy has always denied wrongdoing in the case. Even though he will appeal against his court conviction, the special provision means his jail sentence will still stand while that appeal process goes ahead. Sarkozy, protesting his innocence, said bitterly outside court that he would probably “have to appear in handcuffs at my appeal”.
In 2011, the right-wing Jacques Chirac, then aged 79, became the first former president to be convicted of corruption, after embezzlement charges in a party funding scandal relating to his time as mayor of Paris.
In a historic first, he was given a two-year suspended prison sentence. He did not take part in his trial after doctors determined he suffered from severe memory lapses. But Chirac, a self-styled affable rogue who had one of the longest political careers in Europe, maintained a high level of popularity despite the conviction until his death aged 86.
For Sarkozy, things are very different. His political legacy now appears almost impossible to rebuild. “In the popular imagination, criminal conspiracy really suggests mafia-like behaviour,” said Bruno Cautres, a political scientist. “It’s associated with serious organised crime.”
When Sarkozy told reporters outside court that he was innocent, he questioned the justice system and the rule of law, ramping up his rhetoric to suggest his sentence was the fault of “those who hate me”, hinting at some kind of deep-state conspiracy.
This comes as the French justice system has sought over the past year to show that it will be firm not just on past presidents but those with future presidential ambitions.
After a nine-week trial, the French far-right leader Marine Le Pen was found guilty in March of the embezzlement of European parliamentary funds through a fake jobs scam of an unprecedented scale and duration. She was banned from running for office for five years with immediate effect, which could prevent her from making a fourth bid for the French presidency in 2027.
The fact that her sentence was given with immediate effect was a shock to Le Pen, who protested against it, accusing a “tyranny of judges” of making a “political decision” against her. Her appeal trial begins in January.
When Sarkozy was sentenced on Thursday, Le Pen was also quick to criticise judges for giving him a sentence that would take swift effect and not be suspended during an appeals process.
Sarkozy already has a considerable backstory with the French justice system. Although the allegations of a secret campaign funding pact with the Libyan regime were the biggest corruption trial he had faced, he had already been convicted in two separate cases and stripped of France’s highest distinction, the Legion of Honour.
In the first case, Sarkozy was convicted of corruption and influence peddling over illegal attempts to secure favours from a judge. He was given a one-year jail term, which he served this year with an electronic tag for three months without going to prison, before being granted conditional release – a first for a former head of state.
In a second case, Sarkozy was convicted of hiding illegal overspending in the 2012 presidential election that he lost to the Socialist candidate, François Hollande. He has appealed against both convictions.
Despite those convictions, Sarkozy has until now maintained influence – key figures in French politics have still flocked to meet and consult him. He recently met the new prime minister Sébastien Lecornu, who has yet to form a new government, and over the summer he met the far-right leader Jordan Bardella, president of Le Pen’s National Rally party.
Once in jail, Sarkozy, like any other prisoner, will be able to petition for release or a sentence commuted to electronic bracelet. He would like to maintain his political influence and reputation as he appeals. But nothing is less certain. – Guardian
