Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison for criminal conspiracy in connection with attempts to secure campaign funding from Libya, which will make him the country's first ex-president to serve time behind bars.
The sentence was harsher than many expected and marked a spectacular downfall for Sarkozy, who was president from 2007 to 2012. He will spend time in jail even if he appeals the ruling, which he said he would do.
As he exited the courtroom, Sarkozy, visibly moved, expressed his anger at what he said was a "scandalous" ruling.
"If they absolutely want me to sleep in jail, I will sleep in jail, but with my head held high," he told reporters, adding that he was innocent. "I will not apologize for something I didn't do."
"What happened today ... is of extreme gravity in regard to the rule of law, and for the trust one can have in the justice system," he said of the ruling, as his model and singer-songwriter wife Carla Bruni stood by him.
Sarkozy was found guilty of criminal conspiracy over efforts by close aides to procure funds for his 2007 presidential bid from Libya during the rule of late dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
He was acquitted by the Paris court of all other charges, including corruption and receiving illegal campaign financing.
However, the prison sentence is enforceable immediately, with the judge saying Sarkozy would have just a short period to put his affairs in order before prosecutors call on him to head to jail. That should happen within a month.
"We were shocked because when we started hearing the decision being read out, we thought his innocence would be recognized," one of his lawyers, Jean-Michel Darrois, told reporters. "We hope the appeals court will see things more clearly and will recognize his innocence."
Sarkozy, who has always denied the charges, was accused of making a deal with Gaddafi in 2005, when he was France's interior minister, to obtain campaign financing in exchange for supporting the then-isolated Libyan government on the international stage.
The judge said there was no proof that Sarkozy made such a deal with Gaddafi, nor that money that was sent from Libya reached Sarkozy's campaign coffers, even if the timing was "compatible" and the paths the money went through were "very opaque."
But she said Sarkozy was guilty of criminal conspiracy between 2005 and 2007 for having let close aides get in touch with people in Libya to try and obtain campaign financing. From May 2007, he was president and covered by presidential immunity, the court added.
This was the second time this year that a French court handed down a ruling with immediate effect on a major political figure.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen was convicted in March of embezzling EU funds and given an immediate five-year ban on running for office.
Le Pen was prompt to react to Sarkozy's sentencing, saying it was "a grave danger" that judges were opting for immediately enforceable rulings and not waiting for appeals.
Reactions among French politicians were mixed, with several on the right rushing to give support and criticize what they said was a biased ruling, while on the left, some welcomed the ruling as proof of the independence of the judiciary.
Vincent Brengarth, a lawyer for the economic justice campaign group Sherpa, which was a party to the Libya trial, also welcomed the ruling. "This confirms we have an independent justice system that can be brave," he said.
Despite his legal battles and having his Legion of Honour, France's highest distinction, stripped in June, Sarkozy remains an influential figure on the French political stage.
He recently met with his former protege, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, and has also lent credibility to Le Pen's National Rally (RN), saying the far-right, anti-immigrant party now forms part of the "republican arc." Sarkozy has faced several legal battles since leaving office.
Last year, France's highest court upheld his conviction for corruption and influence peddling, ordering him to wear an electronic tag for a year, a first for a former French head of state. The tag has now been removed.
Also last year, an appeals court confirmed a separate conviction for illegal campaign financing over his failed re-election bid in 2012. A final ruling from France's highest court is expected on that case next month.
