The former French president Nicolas Sarkozy He was sentenced this Wednesday to six months in prison and many others exempt from compliance in the appeal trial by the illegal financing of his 2012 presidential campaign.

It is a penalty somewhat less than that imposed in the first instance in September 2021, which was one year in prison, and something higher than what the Prosecutor’s Office had requestedwhich was one year exempt from compliance.

He tenant of the Elysée between 2007 and 201269 years old, and who at all times has claimed his innocence, announced through his lawyers that he will appeal the sentence to the Supreme Court, which leaves its execution suspended.

Sarkozy, the first former French president sentenced to a firm prison sentence in another casewent to the Paris Court of Appeal to hear the reading of the verdict, but left the Palace of Justice without making a statement.

It was his lawyer, Vincent Desrywho announced the appeal to the Supreme Court, considering the verdict “questionable”, while reiterating that his client “is innocent” and that “no evidence implicates him” in the acts of which he is accused, according to what he said in statements to the press.

With this new sentence, Sarkozy He has already accumulated a year and a half in prisonsince last May the Court of Appeal confirmed the sentence of one year in a case of influence peddling, although both cases are now in the hands of the Supreme Court.

Furthermore, next year he will be judged by the alleged financing of his 2007 campaignthe one that took him to the Elysée, with money from the Libyan regime of Muammar Gaddafi.

In parallel to this latest investigation, Sarkozy is prosecuted for trying to pressure a key witness.

Sarkzoy’s name appears in other investigations, such as possible corruption in the attribution of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.

In the case of illegal financing of the 2012 campaign, which lost against socialist François Hollandethe judges considered that a system of false invoices had been created through a company called Bygmalion to hide real expenses and thus be able to exceed the limits imposed by law.

The former president spent almost 43 million eurosalmost double what was allowed, in a wild race to turn around the polls that gave him a loser.

Although in the first instance the magistrates They found no relationship between Sarkozy and that scheme of false invoicesthey considered that he could not ignore it and that he pressured for the rallies to multiply, despite official warnings about the high campaign spending trend.

“Fabulations” and “lies”cried the former president during the appeal trial that took place between November 8 and December 7, in which he tried to divert responsibility to members of his campaign and the Bygmalion company, whom he accuses of having enriched himself. at your expense.

After hearing the sentence, his lawyer assured that “Sarkozy is innocent” and compared his client’s conviction with the acquittal last week of the former minister. François Bayroucentrist ally of the president, Emmanuel Macron, for a case of illegal financing of his political party.

On that occasion, despite considering that MEPs from Bayrou’s party used parliamentary assistants from the European Parliament in party functions, the court considered that he was not responsible, despite being the president of the party.

Now, the judges consider that Sarkozy Yes, he is responsible for the scheme of false invoices from which he benefitedalthough there is no evidence that he knew of its existence.

“Double standards”said lawyer Desry, who considered that with Bayrou’s jurisprudence the former president should have been acquitted.

The lawyer stated that Sarkozy remains “combative” to prove his innocence.

Thirteen other people were convicted in the first instance for financing Sarkozy’s campaign in 2012 to sentences of up to three and a half years in prison, of which another eight appealed.

The former deputy was not among them. Jerome Lavrieuxwho was the one who brought to light this system of false invoices in a television interview that allowed the investigations to be opened.