PARIS: A Paris court on Wednesday began hearing former president Nicolas Sarkozy’s appeal against his conviction for illegal campaign financing in a failed 2012 re-election bid.
The 68-year-old former French head of state appeared relaxed as he appeared for the hearing in a grey suit, speaking with people in the public gallery before proceedings began.
Conservative Sarkozy has faced a litany of legal problems since his one term in office from 2007 until 2012, and has been charged separately with corruption, bribery, influence-peddling, and breaking campaign financing laws.
In the so-called “Bygmalion affair,” the former head of state was sentenced to one year in prison in September 2021 on charges that his right-wing party, then known as the UMP, worked with a public relations firm to hide the true cost of his 2012 re-election bid.
France sets strict limits on campaign spending.
Prosecutors said that the firm, Bygmalion, invoiced the UMP rather than the campaign. They said Sarkozy spent nearly 43 million euros on his 2012 campaign, almost double the permitted amount of 22.5 million euros.
Thirteen other people — including members of the UMP party, accountants and Bygmalion executives — were found guilty of various charges, ranging from forgery and fraud to complicity in illegal campaign financing.
In the original trial, only four defendants, including the deputy head of the campaign, Jerome Lavrilleux, admitted any responsibility.
Sarkozy denied all wrongdoing, insisting that while there had indeed been “false invoices and fictitious agreements... the money had not gone into (his) campaign.”
The appeal trial is scheduled to last nearly five weeks, with Sarkozy slated to testify on November 23.
Contacted by AFP, Sarkozy’s lawyers declined to issue any statements prior to the hearing.
Sarkozy, who was criticized by the prosecution in the original trial for only turning up for the day of his actual hearing and deeming himself to be “above the fray,” is expected to attend some of the most important sessions this time around.
He was charged last month in a separate witness tampering case relating to alleged Libyan financing of his 2007 presidential win.
Sarkozy also faces a separate probe into possible potential influence-peddling after he received a payment by Russian insurance firm Reso-Garantia of three million euros in 2019 while working as a consultant.
Despite his legal troubles, Sarkozy remains a hugely influential figure on the French right, courted by politicians and writing regular books that are major publishing events.
Appeal hearing opens into Sarkozy’s 2012 campaign fraud
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Appeal hearing opens into Sarkozy’s 2012 campaign fraud
- Conservative Sarkozy has faced a litany of legal problems since his one term in office from 2007 until 2012
- Prosecutors said that the firm, Bygmalion, invoiced the UMP rather than the campaign
EU chief calls additional US tariffs a mistake, insists sovereignty of Greenland ‘non-negotiable’
DUBAI: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described additional US tariffs on Europe as “a mistake,” and insisted that the sovereignty of Greenland was “non-negotiable” during a special address on Tuesday.
“When it comes to the security of the Arctic region, Europe is fully committed. And we share the objectives of the US in this regard … and this is why the proposed additional tariffs are a mistake, especially between longstanding allies,” she said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Donald Trump has vowed to follow through on his threat to impose tariffs on European countries who oppose his demand to take control of Greenland.
The US administration claims it is considering buying the semi-autonomous territory from fellow Nato member Denmark to prevent Russia and China from taking it.
But Von der Leyen said the EU was working on a package to support Arctic security, and also expressed the bloc’s full solidarity with Greenland and Denmark.
“The sovereignty and integrity of the territory is non-negotiable,” she said of Greenland as Trump declined to rule out the option of annexing it by force.
Von der Leyen made a reference to Trump’s wider focus on the Arctic region, which saw Washington order icebreaker ships from Finland.
“We will work with the US and all partners on wider Arctic security. Above all ... Arctic security can only be achieved together.
“Our EU member, Finland, one of the newest NATO members, is selling its first icebreakers to the US. And this shows that we have the capability right here in the ice, so to speak. It shows that our northern NATO members have Arctic ready forces right now.
“The EU and US agreed to a trade deal last July. And in politics, as in business, a deal is a deal. And when friends shake hands, it must mean something.
“We consider the people of the US not just our allies, but our friends. And plunging us into a downward spiral would only aid the very adversaries we are both so committed to keeping out of the strategic landscape.”
Von der Leyen insisted that the EU would continue to collaborate with the US on Ukraine amid Russia’s intensifying attacks.
