Shady backroom deals and high-profile corruption are what many French people associate with former President Nicolas Sarkozy, but he has now become the first modern French leader to face a prison sentence, Reuters reports.
The 70-year-old Sarkozy has been sentenced to five years in prison for trying to raise funds for his 2007 presidential campaign in Libya, which was ruled by dictator Muammar Gaddafi. After the verdict was read, Sarkozy reiterated his innocence and said the conviction undermined faith in the French legal system. “If they absolutely want me to sleep in jail, I will sleep in jail, but with my head held high.”
Sarkozy’s love of luxury has sometimes raised eyebrows, and his reputation as a blurrier of lines between work and play, public and private, has grown over the course of his presidency. Political scientist Bruno Cautrès told Reuters that his reputation for links to mafia-like structures has added to his flamboyant image. Sarkozy has faced legal action since leaving office and
has already been convicted of corruption, influence peddling and illegal campaign financing.
When Sarkozy, the son of a Hungarian immigrant, came to power, he promised to revive France’s stagnant economy and make it a leading global player. However, those efforts were quickly cut short by the global financial crisis, and public support for raising the retirement age and other reforms has not increased. The American energy and lavish parties have alienated those who preferred the more dignified presidents who had served France before him. Conservative French people also resented his high-profile divorce just weeks before the election and his tumultuous relationship with supermodel Carla Bruni, whom he married in 2008.
His tough stance on crime and his largely immigrant-populated neighborhoods have endeared him to right-wing supporters. Now that France is generally leaning more towards the right, Sarkozy’s influence is palpable. He is said to be in regular contact with current French President Emmanuel Macron, but the Elysee Palace has not commented on the matter. The newly appointed French prime minister has also met with the former president.
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