Former French President Nicholas Sarkozy Gets Jail Time for Corruption
- Nicholas Sarkozy has been jailed, however the sentence allows Sarkozy to remain home as long as he wears an electronic bracelet
- The former president was charged alongside his lawyer Thierry Herzog and former magistrate Gilbert Azibert, both of whom were found guilty and imprisoned
- Another lawsuit accuses him of violating campaign financing rules by engaging a PR firm to conceal how much his campaign cost
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Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to three years in prison after being found guilty of corruption and influence peddling.
A court found Sarkozy, who was the head of state between 2007 and 2012, guilty of trying to illegally acquire information about an ongoing investigation into finances used during his campaigns.
The sentence however allows Sarkozy to remain home as long as he wears an electronic bracelet. Sixty-six-year-old Sarkozy, therefore, becomes the first president in France to have been sent to prison.
Source: UGC
The former president was charged alongside his lawyer Thierry Herzog and former magistrate Gilbert Azibert, both of whom were found guilty and imprisoned.
Christened the "wiretapping case," investigations into Sarkozy and his accomplices started in 2013 when their phones were bugged to gather information over their dealings.
The tapping revealed that Sarkozy and Herzog promised senior magistrate Gilbert Azibert a top position in Monaco if he agreed to divulge information about an upcoming inquiry that sought to find out if it was true Sarkozy had received illegal campaign funding from L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt.
Sarkozy's accusations do not end there. Another lawsuit accuses him of violating campaign financing rules by engaging a PR firm to conceal how much his campaign cost.
He is also accused of receiving millions of euros from the former president of Libya Muammar Gaddafi during the 2007 presidential campaign.
In other Briefly.co.za news, Jacob Zuma is set to appear before a virtual session of the Constitutional Court to hear the application by the Zondo Commission against him. The date has been set for 25 March 2021.
The Commission's application plans to hold the former president in contempt of court. This comes after JZ failed to appear before the commission in February despite an order from the apex court and summonses.
Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo requested an urgent order to have Zuma jailed for two years but the former president seems to be enjoying tea with well-known names instead.
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Source: Briefly News
Kelly Lippke (Senior Editor) Kelly Lippke is a copy editor/proofreader who started her career at the Northern-Natal Courier with a BA in Communication Science/Psychology (Unisa, 2007). Kelly has worked for several Caxton publications, including the Highway Mail and Northglen News. Kelly’s unique editing perspective stems from an additional major in Linguistics. Kelly joined Briefly News in 2018 and she has 16 years of experience. Kelly has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at kelly.lippke@briefly.co.za.
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