Sarkozy pleads guilty of corruption one year house arrest

Sarkozy did not participate in the court's sentence in Paris. The court allowed him to suffer his sentence at home with a bracelet for electronic surveillance.

Sarkozy has firmly denied that his 2012 election campaign for a second term was organised on a much larger scale than his successful 2007 presidential campaign, whose financing has not been questioned.

After several scandals, French law from 1990 severely limited spending on political campaigns.

The trial took place less than three months after Sarkozy was convicted of corruption and influential trade in another case. He appealed the decision.

Sarkozy withdrew from active politics in 2017, and he still has a lot of influence behind the scenes, especially within the Republican Party ahead of next year's presidential elections.