France's Sarkozy first former head of state ordered to wear electronic tag after losing graft appeal
France's highest court on Wednesday upheld former president Nicolas Sarkozy's corruption conviction, ordering him to wear an electronic tag for a year. Sarkozy, who denies all wrongdoing, faces additional legal battles, including an upcoming trial over alleged illegal Libyan funding for his 2007 presidential campaign.
France's highest appeals court on Wednesday confirmed a verdict against former president Nicolas Sarkozy for corruption and influence peddling, ordering him to wear an electronic tag for a year, a first for a former head of state.
Sarkozy, who had earlier been found guilty of illegal attempts to secure favours from a judge, will "evidently" respect the terms of the conviction after the Court of Cassation's verdict, his lawyer Patrice Spinosi told AFP.
But he will take the case to the European Court of Human Rights within weeks, Spinozi added.
This move at the Strasbourg-based ECHR will, however, not hold up Wednesday's verdict from being carried out. The sanction now comes into force, Sarkozy having exhausted all the legal avenues in the case in France.
Spinosi said it was a "sad day" when "a former president is required to take action before European judges to have condemned a state over whose destiny he once presided".
The court sentenced him to a three-year jail term, two of which were suspended and one that was to take the form of home detention with an electronic tag allowing his movements to be monitored.
(AFP)
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