France's highest appeals court rejects Sarkozy's plea to avoid trial

The Highest appeals court of France rejected the petition of former President Nicolas Sarkozy, on October 1, to avoid trial on charges of illegally financing his 2012 re-election campaign. It’s now upon the prosecutors to decide on Sarkozy’s trial. The former president was accused of hiding the cost of his re-election campaign with the help of a public relations firm. The 64-year-old is facing multiple corruption charges since he left the office in 2012.

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Nicolas Sarkozy facing several charges

According to the preliminary charges, Sarkozy was accused of taking millions from the then Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Sarkozy was also accused of illegally obtaining information from a magistrate about another investigation. Sarkozy was suspected of a quid pro quo with the magistrate promising him a job in exchange of information on the investigation involving him. The quid pro quo was for investigation in alleged illegal financing for the 2007 presidential campaign.

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'Unfairly targeted for political reasons'

For the 2012 re-election campaign, a judge had ordered a trial for Sarkozy and 13 others. Sarkozy’s centre-right conservation party, a company named Bygmalion, is accused of using a special invoice system to conceal unauthorized overspending. Sarkozy had claimed that he was being unfairly targeted for political reasons. In 2017, he failed to win candidature for presidential elections and have stayed away from active politics since then.

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Accused of spending more than the legal ceiling

Sarkozy was accused of spending way above the legal ceiling of 22.5 million euros ($24 million) and tried to cover it up with illegal means. He served as French president from 2007 to 2012 after winning against the Socialist Party by a margin of 53.1% against 46.9%. Born in Paris, started his political career as a city councillor and hit the headlines in 1993 for personally negotiating with a ‘human bomb’ who had held children hostage in a kindergarten. He also served as Minister of Interior and Minister of Finance before taking the most coveted post of France in 2007.

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(Inputs from AP)