At first instance, in March 2021, the former President of the Republic was sentenced to three years in prison, one of which is firm. His lawyer Thierry Herzog and the former high magistrate Gilbert Azibert are also concerned.
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He viewed the verdict at first instance as a “deep injustice”. Nicolas Sarkozy will be tried on appeal in the so-called “wiretapping” case from November 28 to December 14, just like his lawyer Thierry Herzog and the former high magistrate Gilbert Azibert. The Paris Court of Appeal announced this calendar on Monday January 24.
Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced on March 1, 2021 to three years in prison, including one year firm, for corruption and influence peddling, an unprecedented decision for a former head of state. Gilbert Azibert and Thierry Herzog had been sentenced to the same sentence, accompanied by a five-year ban on practicing for the latter.
In this case born in 2014 of telephone interceptions, also called the “Bismuth” case, the criminal court had estimated that a “corruption pact” had been concluded between Nicolas Sarkozy, his lawyer and the former high magistrate Gilbert Azibert. The judges had considered that the ex-president had been guilty of corruption, by promising to support the candidacy of Gilbert Azibert for a prestigious post in Monaco, in exchange for privileged information, even influence on a appeal in cassation which he had lodged.
The defense had argued that ultimately, Nicolas Sarkozy did not win his case before the Court of Cassation and that Gilbert Azibert never obtained a post in Monaco. But according to the law, it is not necessary that the consideration has been obtained, nor that the influence be real, to characterize the offenses of corruption and influence peddling.