France’s ex-president Sarkozy likely to avoid jail

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was handed a one-year prison sentence by a Paris court yesterday after being found guilty of illegal campaign financing over his failed 2012 re-election bid.

Sarkozy, 66, is unlikely to go to jail. He will appeal the sentence, a move that in effect suspends it, and the judge said he could serve the sentence at home with an electronic tag.

But the second conviction https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-politics-sarkozy-verdict-idUSKCN2AT1VG this year for Sarkozy is a stunning fall from grace for the man who led France from 2007 to 2012 and retains influence among conservatives.

The two convictions could force Sarkozy to play a more discreet role in next year's presidential election.

He had not planned to be a candidate but, as a popular figure on the right, he would be expected to support his party's candidate.

Sarkozy's conservative party, prosecutors said, spent nearly double the 22.5 million euros (currently $19.2 million) allowed under electoral law on extravagant campaign rallies and then hired a friendly public relations agency to hide the cost.

Sarkozy has denied wrongdoing. He said he was not involved in the logistics of his campaign for a second term as president or in how money was spent during the election run-up.

"Can you imagine me going into a meeting to discuss the cost of flags?" he told the court in June. "I had too much to do."

"From the moment I was told things were in order, I had no reason to give it more thought."