Sarkozy hears judgement in appeal of illegal campaign financing case

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy is due to learn the outcome on Wednesday of an appeal of his one-year sentence for illegal campaign financing in his failed 2012 re-election bid.

The decision of the court in Paris is expected in the early afternoon.

A more lenient judgement than what was handed to him in the first instance is possible.

Two years ago, the conservative politician was convicted and sentenced to one year of house arrest with an ankle bracelet monitor. That was tougher than the suspended sentence the prosecution had requested.

Sarkozy's defence has asked the appeals court for an acquittal.

Whatever the outcome on Wednesday, that case can still be taken to the Court of Cassation, the highest court in France.

A lower court ruled in 2021 it had been proven that Sarkozy, who was France's president from 2007 to 2012, exceeded campaign spending limits in his re-election bid.

In order to cover up the additional expenditure, his UMP party - which has since been renamed The Republicans - is said to have disguised expenses using a system of fictitious invoices.

Although Sarkozy, 69, is not said to have invented the system, the court found in 2021 that he had failed in his obligations to monitor the expenses.

Sarkozy's defence argued at the appeal proceedings that he knew nothing of the cost overruns.

The scandal-ridden politician is involved in a litany of legal battles.

Last May, an appeals court confirmed a three-year prison sentence for bribery and undue influence against him, two years of which were suspended. Sarkozy announced he would appeal in that case, too.