Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been granted conditional release in a case related to excessive spending on the 2012 election campaign, RTL radio reported, citing a judicial source.
Sarkozy himself requested that the procedures for serving the sentence be reduced. The court granted his request on May 5. The decision was made in favor of Sarkozy because of his age – he is 71 years old. It will go into effect on May 7.
We are talking about the punishment in the Pygmalion case. This was the name of the PR agency that served Sarkozy’s election campaign in 2012. In the fall of 2021, the politician was convicted of illegally financing his campaign from Pygmalion.
Sarkozy initially received a one-year prison sentence. Later, the sentence was commuted to six months in prison, with the possibility of replacing the prison sentence by wearing an electronic bracelet. RTL now indicates that he will not be wearing a bracelet.
In March 2021, Sarkozy was convicted on charges of influence peddling and corruption. The sentence included one year in prison and two years of probation, but in the end the real sentence was replaced by wearing an electronic bracelet and partial house arrest.
In September 2025, Sarkozy was convicted of criminal conspiracy in the case of his campaign financing by the Libyan government of Muammar Gaddafi in the period 2005-2007. He was exempted from serving the sentence, and the politician did not go to prison until October. But after 20 days, he was released under judicial supervision. The court is currently considering an appeal in this case.
Nicolas Sarkozy served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. He became the first former head of state in this country to receive an actual prison sentence.