Overview

• A Paris court convicted Nicolas Sarkozy of association de malfaiteurs and imposed a five-year sentence with deferred custody, a €100,000 fine and loss of certain civil and civic rights.
• Sarkozy has appealed and continues to proclaim his innocence, targeting Mediapart over a 2012 note the tribunal described as probably a fake.
• Le Parisien reports the Parquet national financier will inform Sarkozy of his incarceration date on 13 October.
• The judgment states at least €6.5 million, including €2 million from Abdallah Senoussi, was paid in 2006 as a result of negotiations by Sarkozy’s team in Tripoli.
• The tribunal’s description of the Mediapart document contrasts with a 2019 Cour de cassation ruling that found no formal proof of fabrication, while debate grows over the broad use of the association de malfaiteurs offense and supporters question the tribunal president’s impartiality as magistrates defend the court’s collegial decisions.