Overview
- The Court of Cassation in Paris rejected Nicolas Sarkozy’s appeal, making his conviction in the Bygmalion affair legally final.
- The one-year sentence includes six months suspended and six months subject to conversion, which could include an electronic ankle bracelet instead of jail.
- Judges found his 2012 re-election campaign spent roughly twice the €22.5 million legal cap, with overspending concealed through fictitious invoices linked to Bygmalion and his party’s accounts.
- The high court reviewed only procedural issues and did not revisit the factual findings of the lower courts.
- Sarkozy denies wrongdoing; separate cases include a 2024 bribery conviction served under electronic monitoring and a five-year sentence in the Libyan funds case now on appeal with hearings due in spring 2026.