Carla’s on the catwalk as Sarkozy gets a SECOND jail term for fiddling finances
FORMER French president Nicolas Sarkozy was yesterday handed his second jail term in a matter of months after he was convicted of fiddling campaign finances.
Sarkozy, 66, was sentenced to a year in prison before being told he could serve his time under house arrest with an electronic tag.
The ruling is another nail in the coffin for the disgraced leader – not that it seemed to bother his third wife, former supermodel Carla Bruni, 53.
She appeared to show no concern the night before her husband was convicted as she stormed the catwalk for the Balmain Spring/ Summer 2022 show during Paris Fashion Week. Ms Bruni strutted down the runway at the event on Wednesday night in an embellished white mini dress with nude heels. The model, who wed Sarkozy in 2008, had supported her husband during his five-year presidency and now seems to have stuck by him during his fall from grace. Sarkozy’s sentence follows the three years in jail (two suspended) he was given in an earlier trial for bribing a judge. Further corruption trials are to be held soon.
In March, he became the first former French president to receive a custodial sentence for corruption and influence peddling but remains free pending an appeal.
Despite the severity of his legal situation, Sarkozy did not attend court in Paris yesterday, leaving his legal team to represent him just as he did throughout the whole trial. The snub led to prosecutors accusing him of ‘undermining the values of democracy’.
Sarkozy was in the dock with 13 associates as part of the ‘Bygmalion’ case – named after the PR company allegedly used to hide the €20million overspend in his unsuccessful 2012 re-election bid.
They were accused of spending almost twice the legal €22.5million limit for the presidential campaign. Three of the other defendants who were connected to the agency admitted producing fake invoices to hide the costs.
Sarkozy denies any wrongdoing and is expected to appeal against this ruling as well.
Serve time at home with a tag