Overview
- Nicolas Sarkozy’s pourvoi was rejected by the Cour de cassation, confirming the February 14, 2024 appellate judgment for illegal financing of the 2012 campaign.
- The one-year sentence, including six months to be served under an amenable regime, is now enforceable and is expected to be carried out via electronic monitoring rather than standard imprisonment for this case.
- Judges upheld findings that campaign spending neared €42–43 million versus a €22.5 million cap, concealed through Bygmalion’s false invoicing that shifted meeting costs to the UMP, with Sarkozy convicted as a beneficiary of the illicit financing.
- The court also confirmed the convictions tied to the same facts of the campaign’s director Guillaume Lambert and former UMP officials Éric Cesari and Pierre Chassat.
- This marks Sarkozy’s second definitive criminal conviction after the 2024 “Bismuth” wiretapping case, a record that courts may consider as he faces the Libyan‑financing case on appeal from March 16 to June 3, 2026, with any European court recourse non‑suspensive.