Nicolas Sarkozy is set to be fitted with an electronic monitoring device on Friday following his conviction for corruption, according to a source familiar with the case, marking a first for a former president of France.
In December, France’s highest appeals court mandated that Sarkozy wear the device for a duration of one year after he was found guilty of illicitly seeking favors from a judge.
A judge ruled last week that the 70-year-old Sarkozy would begin wearing the ankle monitor starting February 7, as reported by the source.
The former president, who held office from 2007 to 2012, will be permitted to leave his residence only during specified times.
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Sarkozy’s attorney, Jacqueline Laffont, stated that the proper procedures are being followed but did not provide additional comments.
However, the former president is eligible to apply for conditional release, as he recently turned 70, coinciding with the day he was called before the judge.
For the past month, Sarkozy has been attending a Paris court three afternoons a week as part of a separate trial concerning allegations of illegal campaign financing related to his 2007 election. This trial is expected to continue until April 10.
In the case that necessitates the electronic tag, the court determined that Sarkozy and his former attorney, Thierry Herzog, had established a “corruption pact” with Judge Gilbert Azibert to obtain and exchange information regarding an investigating judge.
This arrangement was made in exchange for a promise of a lucrative retirement position for the judge.
The trial was initiated after investigators, probing a different case of alleged illegal campaign financing, wiretapped Sarkozy’s two official phone lines and uncovered a third, unofficial line.
This line, registered under the name “Paul Bismuth,” was created in 2014 and was exclusively used for communication with Herzog.
The revelations from these phone conversations led to the corruption verdict in 2021.
Prior to Sarkozy, the only French leader convicted in a criminal trial was his predecessor, Jacques Chirac, who received a two-year suspended sentence in 2011 for corruption related to a fictitious jobs scandal.
However, Sarkozy is the first president of France to get a prison sentence after the war.
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