Prosecutors in France seek six-month jail term for ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy over campaign violations
- In March, Sarkozy was handed a three-year prison term for corruption and influence peddling over attempts to secure favours from a judge
- The court has heard how Sarkozy’s 2012 re-election campaign team spent around twice the authorised amount of €22.6 million (US$27 million)
Prosecutors in the trial of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday called for a six-month jail term over campaign finance violations for his 2012 re-election bid.
At the end of proceedings in Paris, they issued withering criticism of the former head of state and demanded a one-year jail term, with six months of it suspended, and a fine of €3,750 euros (US$4,500).
“Nicolas Sarkozy clearly regrets nothing because he came to just one hearing,” prosecutor Vanessa Perree told the court.
“This way of thinking of himself as being above the law, of not being a citizen among others, is the same as it was during the presidential campaign,” she added.
“The cavalier attitude towards [other defendants] and the court is a reflection of the cavalier attitude during the campaign,” she said.
This is the second trial of the 66-year-old right-winger who has faced a flurry of investigations into his affairs since he lost his presidential immunity after his single term in office from 2007-2012.
