France's highest appeals court has upheld the conviction of former President Nicolas Sarkozy for corruption and influence peddling.
He will wear an electronic wristband for a year, a first for a former head of state.
Sarkozy, who was earlier found guilty of illegally trying to secure a judge's leniency, will "obviously" abide by the terms of his sentence after the Court of Cassation's ruling, but will now take the case to the European Court of Human Rights for appeal, his lawyer told AFP.
Sarkozy, 69, will be summoned to appear before an execution judge who will determine the conditions for the electronic bracelet.
But "at the same time, in the coming weeks, he will take the matter to the European Court (of Human Rights, ECHR), as he is entitled to do now, to obtain a guarantee of the rights that French judges have denied him," he said.
This referral does not prevent the implementation of the sanctions imposed.
This final verdict, handed down by the Court of Cassation, comes at a time when the former French head of state is due to appear in court in Paris from 6 January for four months in a case relating to suspicions of Libyan financing of his 2007 presidential campaign.
In the case, decided today, on 17 December, Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced in first instance on 1 March 2021 and then on 17 May 2023 on appeal.
In both cases, the former head of state was found guilty of making a "corruption pact" in 2014 with Gilbert Azibert, a senior judge at the Court of Cassation, along with his longtime lawyer Thierry Herzog.
In 2025, the Court of Cassation will also have to rule on Nicolas Sarkozy's appeal against his sentence of one year in prison, including six months in jail, for excessive spending during his campaign for the presidential election, which he lost in 2012. | BGNES
