Nicolas Sarkozy ordered to wear a tag after losing corruption appeal

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday lost his appeal against a corruption conviction — but will be able to serve his jail time at home wearing a tag.

The Paris Appeal Court ruled two years of his three-year prison sentence will be suspended, and the 68-year-old can wear an electronic tag instead of serving the third year in a cell.

It means Sarkozy, who has insisted on his innocence, will now become the first head of state to be tagged, as he goes about his day-to-day life with his third wife, the former supermodel Carla Bruni, 55.

In 2021, Sarkozy and his lawyer, Thierry Herzog, were found guilty of trying to bribe a judge in exchange for confidential information.

It related to another corruption enquiry focusing on whether Sarkozy accepted illegal payments from the late L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt to fund his 2007 election campaign.

The 2021 guilty verdict against Sarkozy made him the first former French president to be convicted of corruption while in office. In the same year, he was also found guilty of illegally funding his campaign for re-election and faces prison time for that offence too.

The verdict handed down at the Paris Correctional Court followed a five-week trial during which prosecutors said he was guilty of fiddling the books during his unsuccessful 2012 presidential bid.