Aishwarya Rathore-
Published On: September 30, 2021 at 16:14 IST
A Paris Court convicted former French President Nicolas Sarkozy of Illegal Campaign Financing during his failed Re-election bid in 2012.
The Court sentenced Sarkozy to one year imprisonment, with the option of serving it at Home.
It was Sarkozy’s second guilty conviction this year. He led France from 2007 to 2012 and retains power among Conservatives despite his legal troubles.
According to the Prosecutors, his Conservative Party spent nearly double the 22.5 million euros (currently $19.2 million) permitted by Electoral law on expensive Campaign rallies and then hired a favourable Public Relations Agency to conceal the expenses.
Sarkozy has categorically denied any wrongdoing. In June, he informed the Court that he was neither involved in the logistics of his campaign for a second term as President nor in how money was spent in the run-up to the Election.
The Court, however, stated that Sarkozy was made aware of the expenditures, but he did not act on them, and that he did not need to authorise each individual expenditure in order to be held accountable.
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