Ex-French President Sarkozy Loses Corruption Conviction Appeal

Ex-French President Nicolas Sarkozy lost his bid to overturn a historic criminal conviction, according to Agence France-Presse.

The Paris court of appeals on Wednesday backed a one-year prison term over allegations he offered to help a magistrate land a prestigious job in return for a favor. The additional two-year suspended sentence handed down by a lower court in 2021 was also upheld by the court, the agency reported.

An attorney for Sarkozy didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

While he wasn’t the first former French president to go on trial in modern times, Sarkozy was the first to get a non-suspended sentence. The late Jacques Chirac was too sick to attend court before he was found guilty in 2011 of misusing Paris city funds, and convicted to a two-year suspended term.

The case centers on tapped phone calls of Sarkozy dating back to 2014, after he’d left office.