Overview

• Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced in Paris to five years in prison for association de malfaiteurs, while being acquitted of corruption, receiving stolen funds and illegal campaign financing.
• Sarkozy has appealed but remains subject to provisional execution with a deferred committal order; the financial prosecutor has summoned him on 13 October to notify a likely near-term incarceration date.
• In a JDD interview, Sarkozy ruled out seeking a presidential pardon, denounced what he calls a violation of the rule of law, and vowed to fight to clear his name.
• The presiding judge wrote that a 2012 Mediapart note suggesting Libyan funding was probably a fake, a point fueling political reactions even as broader questions about judicial impartiality intensify.
• Two investigations were opened over threats against the presiding magistrate, the CSM condemned attacks on judicial independence, and figures including François Bayrou questioned the wider use of provisional execution and its impact on appeals.