Former French president receives prison sentence

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A Paris court on Monday convicted Nicolas Sarkozy of corruption and influence peddling and sentenced him to one year in prison and two suspended years. The former president of France still faces a separate trial this month over accusations he illegally financed his 2012 presidential campaign. The judge said Sarkozy, who led the country from 2007 to 2012, can request to serve his sentence at home with an electronic bracelet.

What did Sarkozy do? The investigation centered on phone conversations police taped in 2014 between Sarkozy, his lawyer Thierry Herzog, and retired magistrate Gilbert Azibert. Prosecutors said the calls revealed Sarkozy and Herzog promised Azibert a job in Monaco in exchange for leaked information about another case involving L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt. The court dished out the same sentence to Herzog and Azibert.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archive, read Emily Belz’s report on Sarkozy’s last presidential campaign in 2016.

Onize Oduah

Onize is WORLD’s Africa reporter and deputy global desk chief. She is a World Journalism Institute graduate and earned a journalism degree from Minnesota State University–Moorhead. Onize resides in Abuja, Nigeria.

@onize_ohiks