reactions from the political class and civil society

An LR regional advisor evokes “a very surprising conviction” when the advocacy manager of the NGO Transparency International speaks of “a case emblematic of the dangers weighing on the presidential election”.

The decision was rendered on Wednesday February 14 by the Paris Court of Appeal. Former President of the Republic Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced on appeal to one year in prison, including six months suspended, for his role in the Bygmalion affair concerning excessive spending during his 2012 presidential campaign. Nicolas Sarkozy’s lawyer announced that the ex-president would appeal to the Court of Cassation. Several political and civil society figures have since spoken out.

On the support side, it was the LR regional councilor for Hauts-de-France, Sébastien Huyghe, who spoke on franceinfo on Wednesday February 14. “I am convinced of his innocence”he insisted. “I can’t help but think that we are witnessing a manhunt for Nicolas Sarkozy, from a legal point of view”castigates the former deputy from the North. “I regret that a sentence was handed down beyond the requirements of the prosecution”, he adds. As a reminder, a one-year suspended prison sentence had been requested by the public prosecutor, so, according to regional advisor LR “a very surprising conviction from a criminal point of view”.

Sébastien Huyghe hopes that in the end “we will recognize his innocence” because, according to him, Nicolas Sarkozy did not commit the acts with which he is accused. “When we run a presidential campaign, we know that the candidate will concentrate on substance, on visits, on speeches and that stewardship is managed by others”, believes the former MP. The LR regional advisor believes that “if we wanted to prevent [Nicolas Sarkozy] to come back to the forefront, we wouldn’t do it any other way.”.

Convictions of “pedagogical nature”

For other political figures, like the centrist deputy Charles de Courson, this conviction is an opportunity to recall that“there is no immunity from the great people of this world”. “We are talking about the conviction of Nicolas Sarkozy but we should talk about all those who contributed to putting all this in place, justice was harsher for them than for the former President of the Republic”, declares the centrist deputy for the 5th constituency of Marne on franceinfo on Wednesday. For MP Liot, these convictions have “an educational character”. “People who are tempted not to respect the law know that they will not escape it and that sanctions have already been imposed,” he said.

On the side of civil society, David Dupré, advocacy manager of the NGO Transparency International mentions “a case emblematic of the dangers weighing on the presidential election. “This conviction should be a wake-up call for everyone”, he added on franceinfo. This conviction, “we want to use it to look towards the future and towards 2027”. He recalls that in 2019, the NGO launched an alert explaining “the urgency of reforming the financing of political life and in particular the presidential election” because according to him,

“There have been very few developments following the Bygmalion affair”

David Dupré, advocacy manager of the NGO Transparency International

at franceinfo

He says he is in favor of greater use of the CNCCFP (National Commission for Campaign Accounts and Political Financing). “She controls the regularity of campaign accounts, political party accounts but she is not powerful enough and works out of turn”. He cites as an example an opinion issued last week “on the accounts of political parties in 2022”. According to him, in each presidential campaign, “there should be a rapporteur present alongside the financial agent to report any difficulties”.