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France’s highest court has confirmed the second conviction of former president Nicolas Sarkozy, ruling on Wednesday that he illegally financed his failed 2012 re-election campaign.
The Court of Cassation upheld an earlier appeal court verdict, making the judgement final and confirming Sarkozy’s sentence of six months under electronic monitoring.
The decision marks another major legal defeat for the 70-year-old, who has been entangled in multiple court cases since leaving office.
The ruling comes just weeks after Sarkozy became the first French president in the post-war era to serve time in prison.
He spent around 20 days in custody linked to a separate investigation into allegations that his 2007 election campaign was partly funded by Libya’s former leader, Muammar Gaddafi, before being released earlier this month while awaiting appeal proceedings.
Prosecutors in the 2012 case argued that Sarkozy’s campaign far exceeded legal spending limits, with expenses approaching €43 million — almost double the authorised cap of €22.5 million. They said members of his political party worked with a communications firm, Bygmalion, to conceal the overspend.
Although Sarkozy was not accused of organising the allegedly false billing system himself, the court ruled that he benefited directly from the unlawful financing and therefore bore responsibility.
Sarkozy has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and has described the case against him as baseless.
His legal team acknowledged the court’s decision on Wednesday but did not offer immediate further comment.
This ruling follows a long line of legal setbacks for the former president.
Last year, he also exhausted his appeals in a separate case in which he was convicted of attempting to improperly influence a judge—a sentence he served at home under electronic surveillance until it was lifted earlier this year.
Despite his mounting legal problems, Sarkozy remains a prominent figure in French politics.
President Emmanuel Macron met with him before his recent imprisonment, while a controversial visit by the justice minister at a Paris prison drew sharp criticism.
Sarkozy is due to face an appeal hearing in the so-called Libya funding case next March. He has also announced plans to publish a book next month reflecting on his time in detention.
