Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to one year of house arrest for a 2014 corruption case, marking the first time a former head of state of France must wear an electronic bracelet. Sarkozy, who held the conservative presidency of France from 2007 to 2012, has continually denied his guilt and exhausted all legal avenues before his sentence of three years in prison was confirmed, of which two were exempt from enforcement and one under the measure of the electronic bracelet.
This decision makes him the first former French president to receive an actual prison sentence. The 70-year-old politician can only leave his home for 12 hours a day, from 8 AM to 8 PM, except on days when he has court commitments related to other cases he is involved in, such as the alleged irregular financing of his 2007 electoral campaign by Libya. If Sarkozy complies with the conditions of house arrest, he will avoid going to prison.
In a second judicial setback, Sarkozy was sentenced in 2021 to one year in prison for the irregular financing of the electoral campaign for the 2012 presidential elections. He is currently on trial along with other defendants for the alleged irregular financing by the regime of Muammar Gaddafi of his 2007 electoral campaign. This process began in January and will conclude in April. During his term, Sarkozy attempted to obtain judicial benefits from a high magistrate, a fact that came to light through phone taps in another investigation.
Last Friday, Nicolas Sarkozy was seen for the first time wearing the electronic bracelet while jogging in Paris. The measure of house arrest follows the exhaustion of all legal instances and the confirmation of his sentence, thus becoming a notable episode in the judicial history of France as the first former president condemned to wear an electronic bracelet.
