Nicolas Sarkozy in court for a corruption case linked to Monaco – Pages Monaco
This is a case that finds a particular resonance in the Côte d’Azur, because it also concerns Monaco. The former President of the Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, appeared on Monday, December 6 on appeal for a promise he would have made to a magistrate, of a post on the Rock, in exchange for information in the Bettencourt file.
In March 2021, the former president was sentenced to three years in prison, including a firm sentence for “active corruption” and “influence peddling” with a sentence adjustment: house arrest under an electronic bracelet.
There are several cases in the case and what concerns Monaco is only a tiny part of the file. The starting point is the investigation into suspicions of Libyan financing of Nicolas Sarkozy’s presidential campaign in 2007. After he left the Elysée in 2012, the judges put him on the phone, and in 2014 fell on the conversations he has with his lawyer on a hotline on behalf of the famous Paul Bismuth.
These exchanges interest the magistrates – it is definitely a file with drawers – for a third procedure: the Bettencourt affair – the French billionaire who died in 2017 and majority shareholder of the L’Oréal group.
Monegasque post
The former head of state is accused of having wanted to obtain confidential information on this Bettencourt affair, more specifically on the cassation appeal he filed.
Nicolas Sarkozy is suspected of having even tried to influence the decision of the highest French court, through the magistrate Gilbert Azibert, with a promise of dismissal by erasing his candidacy for a prestigious post in Monaco.
Charges that Nicolas Sarkozy has always denied, speaking of “fantasies”.
According to the editorial staff of France Info, some of these plays will be broadcast before the Court of Appeal, which was not the case at first instance. Nicolas Sarkozy’s objective is clear: to achieve relaxation. Failing this, he is already considering an appeal in cassation.
The trial is to be held until December 16 in Paris. Nicolas Sarkozy has not finished with justice, in 2023, he will be summoned on appeal in the context of the Bygmalion affair.