PARIS: France’s top court said Wednesday it will rule in November on embattled former president Nicolas Sarkozy’s final appeal over illegal campaign financing in 2012, in a case that could cement his second criminal conviction.
Sarkozy, who remains an influential figure on the right, has been embroiled in legal problems since losing the 2012 presidential election.
Last month, Sarkozy was sentenced to five years in prison over a scheme for late Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi to fund his 2007 presidential run. He will be the first French postwar leader to serve jail time.
Sarkozy has denied the charges and appealed that conviction, though under French law his sentence will be implemented even as his appeal plays out. He will learn on Monday when his prison term will begin.
Separately, the right-wing politician in 2021 received a one-year jail sentence in the so-called “Bygmalion affair” for the financing of his 2012 presidential campaign.
An appeals court in 2024 confirmed the conviction but lightened his sentence to six months with another six months suspended. He has appealed that ruling.
In November, Sarkozy will learn if his conviction is overturned or confirmed.
On Wednesday, the country’s highest appeals court examined his final appeal in the case.
If the Court of Cassation upholds Sarkozy’s conviction in its ruling expected on November 26 — as demanded by the prosecutor’s office at the hearing Wednesday — he will serve a six-month term with an electronic bracelet.
The former head of state was sentenced on charges that his right-wing party worked with a public relations firm, Bygmalion, to hide the true cost of his 2012 re-election bid.
Prosecutors said Sarkozy spent nearly 43 million euros on his 2012 campaign, almost double the permitted amount of 22.5 million euros.
Sarkozy has accused Bygmalion of having enriched itself behind his back and dismissed the allegations against him as “lies.”
His lawyers on Wednesday reiterated that stance.
“Nothing was materially established by the court of appeal regarding active involvement of President Sarkozy” in the overspending of campaign accounts, said one of Sarkozy’s lawyers, Emmanuel Piwnica.
Sarkozy’s latest hearing comes at a sensitive moment for France, with the country thrown into uncertainty by the shock resignation of Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu after less than a month in power.
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French court sets November ruling in Sarkozy campaign finance appeal
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French court sets November ruling in Sarkozy campaign finance appeal
- Sarkozy has been embroiled in legal problems since losing the 2012 presidential election
- In November, Sarkozy will learn if his conviction is overturned or confirmed
In South Africa’s affluent Western Cape, farmers lose cattle to drought
- Drought in country’s south follows flooding in north
- Farmers try to adapt but lose livestock
KNYSNA: In South Africa’s most visited and affluent province, Western Cape, one of the worst droughts in living memory is drying up dams, scorching grass and killing livestock, prompting the government to declare a national emergency this month.
Scientists say climate change is causing worsening droughts in the province, which draws tourists to its vineyards, beaches and the lush slopes of Table Mountain above Cape Town, but lies on the edge of the advancing semi-desert Karoo. In 2015, a drought almost dried up the taps in the city; farmers say this one has been even more brutal than a decade ago.
Over the weekend, mixed-race couple Christian and Ilze Pienaar were distributing feed to keep their hungry cattle alive. One cow had recently starved to death, its bones visible through its skin.
“The drought before wasn’t this bad because there was still ... grazing,” Ilze, 40, told Reuters. “Now there’s nothing, the dams are dry ... (and) we’re spending all our money on feed.”
She said she’d lost 16 cattle and 13 sheep since January alone.
The drought, which has also ravaged parts of Eastern Cape and Northern Cape, comes weeks after floods blamed on climate change and cyclical La Niña weather washed out the northeastern part of South Africa and killed 200 people across the region.
“The intensity and duration of both droughts and floods in this corner of the world is increasing,” Anton Cartwright, an economist with the African Center for Cities, said.
“Farmers (here) are very good at adapting to weather (but) ... the weather is just becoming much less predictable,” he said. “Seasons aren’t occurring, starting, ending at the same time of the year. It’s probably going to get worse.”
(Writing by Tim Cocks; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
Scientists say climate change is causing worsening droughts in the province, which draws tourists to its vineyards, beaches and the lush slopes of Table Mountain above Cape Town, but lies on the edge of the advancing semi-desert Karoo. In 2015, a drought almost dried up the taps in the city; farmers say this one has been even more brutal than a decade ago.
Over the weekend, mixed-race couple Christian and Ilze Pienaar were distributing feed to keep their hungry cattle alive. One cow had recently starved to death, its bones visible through its skin.
“The drought before wasn’t this bad because there was still ... grazing,” Ilze, 40, told Reuters. “Now there’s nothing, the dams are dry ... (and) we’re spending all our money on feed.”
She said she’d lost 16 cattle and 13 sheep since January alone.
The drought, which has also ravaged parts of Eastern Cape and Northern Cape, comes weeks after floods blamed on climate change and cyclical La Niña weather washed out the northeastern part of South Africa and killed 200 people across the region.
“The intensity and duration of both droughts and floods in this corner of the world is increasing,” Anton Cartwright, an economist with the African Center for Cities, said.
“Farmers (here) are very good at adapting to weather (but) ... the weather is just becoming much less predictable,” he said. “Seasons aren’t occurring, starting, ending at the same time of the year. It’s probably going to get worse.”
(Writing by Tim Cocks; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
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