France’s highest court upholds corruption conviction of former President Nicolas Sarkozy

PARIS (AP) — France’s highest court has upheld an appeal court decision which had found former President Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of corruption and influence peddling while he was the country's head of state.

Sarkozy, 69, faces a year in prison, but is expected to ask to be detained at home with an electronic bracelet — as is the case for any sentence of two years or less.

He was found guilty of corruption and influence peddling by both a Paris court in 2021 and an appeals court in 2023 for trying to bribe a magistrate in exchange for information about a legal case in which he was implicated.

“The convictions and sentences are therefore final,” a Court of Cassation statement on Wednesday said.

Sarkozy, who was France’s president from 2007 to 2012, retired from public life in 2017 though still plays an influential role in French conservative politics. He was among the guests who attended the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral earlier this month.

Sarkozy, in a statement posted on X, said “I will assume my responsibilities and face all the consequences.”

He added: “I have no intention of complaining. But I am not prepared to accept the profound injustice done to me.”

Sarkozy said he will seek to bring the case to the European Court of Human Rights, and hopes those proceedings will result in “France being condemned.”

He reiterated his “full innocence.”

“My determination is total in this case as in all others,” he concluded.

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Patrice Spinosi, said his client “will comply” with the ruling. This means the former president will have to wear an electronic bracelet, Spinosi said.

It is the first time in France’s modern history that a former president has been convicted and sentenced to a prison term for actions during his term.

Sarkozy’s predecessor, Jacques Chirac, was found guilty in 2011 of misuse of public money during his time as Paris mayor and was given a two-year suspended prison sentence.

Sarkozy has been involved in several other legal cases. He has denied any wrongdoing.

He faces another trial next month in Paris over accusations he took millions of dollars from then-Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi to illegally finance his successful 2007 campaign.

The corruption case that led to Wednesday's ruling focused on phone conversations that took place in February 2014.

At the time, investigative judges had launched an inquiry into the financing of Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential campaign. During the inquiry, they discovered that Sarkozy and his lawyer, Thierry Herzog, were communicating via secret mobile phones registered to the alias “Paul Bismuth.”

Wiretapped conversations on those phones led prosecutors to suspect Sarkozy and Herzog of promising magistrate Gilbert Azibert a job in Monaco in exchange for leaking information about another legal case involving Sarkozy. Azibert never got the post and legal proceedings against Sarkozy have been dropped in the case he was seeking information about.

Prosecutors had concluded, however, that the proposal still constitutes corruption under French law, even if the promise wasn’t fulfilled. Sarkozy vigorously denied any malicious intention in his offer to help Azibert.

Azibert and Herzog have also been found guilty in the case.

FILE - In this Monday Nov. 11, 2019 file photo, French former president Nicolas Sarkozy attends a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. (Ludovic Marin/Pool via AP, file)

FILE - Thierry Herzog, lawyer of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, speaks to the media after the verdict was announcement at Paris' courthouse, Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

FILE - In this Tuesday May 1, 2012 file picture, French President and conservative candidate for his re-election in the 2012 French presidential elections, Nicolas Sarkozy reacts to supporters as he arrives on stage at Trocadero square. (AP Photo/Philippe Wojazer, Pool, File)

FILE - Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy leaves the Elysee Palace after a lunch with heads of states and officials, Monday, Sept. 30, 2019 in Paris. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu, File)

FILE - Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, right, and his lawyer Jacqueline Laffont, center, arrive at the courtroom, Monday, Nov. 23, 2020 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

FILE - Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy looks on as he attends a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe, as part of the commemorations marking the105th anniversary of the Nov. 11, 1918 Armistice, ending World War I, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023 in Paris. (Ludovic Marin/Pool via AP, File)

FILE - Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrives at the courtroom for his appeal trial of trying to bribe a magistrate in exchange for information about a legal case in which he was implicated Monday, Dec. 5, 2022 in Paris. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, File)

MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — Emergency services in Liberia were tackling a fire in the parliament building on Wednesday which broke out as opposition protests spilled into a second day.

Authorities did not immediately confirm the cause of the fire in the capital, Monrovia. President Joseph Boakai, who visited the scene and ordered an investigation into the incident, condemned the “wanton destruction in this country.”

The protests are being held against moves to remove the parliament speaker, who faces accusations of corruption. The demonstrators are also calling for the president to step down.

On Tuesday, police arrested dozens of protesters and used tear gas to disperse the crowds.

It is the second time in a week that the parliament building has caught fire, though there was no indication that the incidents are connected. Local media reports said the police arrested some suspects who were in the area when the latest fire broke out.

The protests came after months of tension over whether Konati Koffa, speaker of Liberia’s House of Representatives, who is an opposition party member, would be removed from office for alleged corrupt practices.

Liberia’s law provides that the speaker can be removed by a two-thirds majority of the house. But without the necessary support for that, the parliament has become deadlocked and the government has not be able to pass the annual budget.

The burnt parliament building in Monrovia, Liberia, Wednesday, Dec 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Anthony Williams)

Smoke rises from the parliament building following a protest by opposition in Monrovia, Liberia, Wednesday, Dec 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Anthony Williams)