Bygmalion affair: Nicolas Sarkozy definitively convicted by the Court of Cassation
The Paris Court of Appeal had sentenced Nicolas Sarkozy, on 14 February 2024, to one year of imprisonment, including six months of unconditional imprisonment, for illegally exceeding the spending limits of his 2012 presidential campaign. The custodial portion was to be carried out under a modified regime, such as wearing an electronic bracelet or semi-liberty.
SUMMARY
The appeal to the Court of Cassation filed immediately after that decision had temporarily suspended the execution of the sentence. But in a decision handed down on 26 November, the French High Court ends this suspension, confirming the conviction.
An extraordinary budget overrun
At the heart of the case, investigators uncovered a massive additional cost of nearly €43 million spent on the campaign, while the law capped the authorized amount at €22.5 million.
A system of double billing had been set up, relying in particular on fictitious agreements that allowed the UMP to cover a significant portion of Sarkozy’s campaign rallies.
The former head of state was not prosecuted for forgery, but for having benefited from illegal financing. At each stage of the proceedings, he denied any wrongdoing and dismissed the accusations as “lies” and “fables”.
This decision adds to another. In December 2024, the Court of Cassation had already upheld the one-year sentence with electronic monitoring imposed on Nicolas Sarkozy in the wiretapping case, known as the Bismuth affair.
The former president is also still involved in several ongoing proceedings. The confirmation of his sentence in the Bygmalion case marks a decisive judicial step in a long politico-judicial saga.
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