Nicolas Sarkozy Announces Withdrawal from Public Life and Renounces All Media Expression

After his final conviction for corruption and influence peddling in the so-called wiretapping case, Nicolas Sarkozy announced on Saturday, February 8, his decision to “put on hold (his) public activities as a former president” and to “renounce all media expression except for this personal message,” published on the social network X.

Withdrawal and Conditions of His Sentence

The former head of state, who denounces an “injustice,” had an electronic bracelet fitted at his home on Friday, February 7, as part of his sentence. He will thus serve his one-year prison sentence under electronic surveillance. Nicolas Sarkozy is allowed to leave his home between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., as well as until 9:30 p.m. on the days of his trial hearings concerning allegations of Libyan financing of his 2007 presidential campaign, which will run until April 10 before the Paris Criminal Court.

“I will continue to pursue my professional life as I am entitled to,” declared the former president, who is a lawyer by profession. He also specified that he had “voluntarily waived certain adjustments that the law offered me to avoid giving the impression of seeking any privilege.”

An Ongoing Legal Battle

Despite his conviction, Nicolas Sarkozy does not intend to give up defending his cause. He announced his intention to file an “appeal before the European Court of Human Rights by the end of the month.” “Everyone must understand that the sense of injustice I feel gives me increased energy. It will not cease until the truth has been established. Until then, I will fight tirelessly against lies, slander, and manipulation in all its forms,” he concluded.

This conviction follows the so-called “Bismuth” case, in which Nicolas Sarkozy was found guilty, alongside his lawyer Thierry Herzog, of having concluded in 2014 a “corruption pact” with Gilbert Azibert, a senior magistrate at the Court of Cassation. They are accused of seeking confidential information regarding an appeal in the Bettencourt case in exchange for a promised intervention for an honorary position in Monaco. Nicolas Sarkozy contests these allegations, pointing out that Gilbert Azibert never obtained the position and that the appeal in question was lost.