Former French leader Sarkozy is convicted in campaign financing case
LA TimesFormer French President Nicolas Sarkozy attends a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris in November 2019. Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was convicted Thursday and sentenced to a year of house arrest for illegal campaign financing during his unsuccessful 2012 reelection bid, will appeal the ruling, his lawyer said. The court said that Sarkozy knew his campaign was close to the legal limit and that he “voluntarily” failed to supervise additional expenses. In the campaign-financing case, prosecutors concluded that Sarkozy knew weeks before the 2012 election that his campaign expenses were nearing the legal maximum. Prosecutors argued that Sarkozy was “the only person responsible for his campaign financing” and that he chose to exceed the limit by organizing many rallies, including giant ones.