Keyword: Bismuth affair

Former president Nicolas Sarkozy found guilty of corruption in phone tap affair

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Nicolas Sarkozy arriving at the court in Paris on Monday 1st March 2021. Nicolas Sarkozy arriving at the court in Paris on Monday 1st March 2021.

The former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was found guilty by a Paris court on Monday March 1st 2021 of corruption and influence peddling in the case known as the 'Paul Bismuth affair'. The ex-head of state was handed a three-year prison sentence with two of them suspended, though it appears unlikely he will serve time in jail and his lawyer said he will appeal against the conviction. It is the first time in French legal history that a former president of the Republic has been convicted of such serious crimes. The case stemmed from judicially-approved telephone taps of conversations between Nicolas Sarkozy and his friend and lawyer Thierry Herzog, who has also been convicted in the case. Mediapart's legal affairs correspondent Michel Deléan reports, with additional reporting by Ilyes Ramdani.

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Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy found guilty of corruption

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The ex-head of state was  found guilty of seeking to bribe a judge and handed a three-year sentence, two of them suspended.

Former French president Sarkozy faces verdict in corruption trial

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Ex-head of state is accused of offering a plum job in Monaco to a judge in exchange for inside information on an inquiry into his campaign finances.

Sarkozy says he is victim of 6 years of 'slander' as trial opens

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Sarkozy has become France's first modern head of state to appear in the dock on charges of corruption and influence peddling.

Blow for Sarkozy as prosecutors cleared over hunt for 'mole' who tipped him off about phone tap

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Defence lawyer turned minister of justice Éric Dupond-Moretti and ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy. © AFP Defence lawyer turned minister of justice Éric Dupond-Moretti and ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy. © AFP

In 2014 prosecutors from France's financial crimes prosecution unit the Parquet National Financier (PNF) wanted to discover the identity of the 'mole' inside the legal world who had tipped off Nicolas Sarkozy that his phones were being tapped as part of what became known as the 'Bismuth' affair. When details of this hunt were revealed by Le Point magazine it caused an outcry among many top lawyers - including defence lawyer Éric Dupond-Moretti who is now the minister of justice - and an investigation was launched into the actions of the PNF. At the time, many in the former president's entourage felt the revelations proved there was a sustained attempt to discredit him. But the Ministry's of Justice's inspectorate which investigated the affair has just reported, and finds that the PNF's actions were legal and proper. As Fabrice Arfi and Michel Deléan report, the report's verdict will be seen as a setback for the ex-head of state