Sarkozy sent to prison

A PARIS court has found French former president Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of corruption and influence peddling and sentenced him to one year in prison and a two-year suspended sentence.

The 66-year-old politician, who was president from 2007 to 2012, was convicted of trying to bribe a magistrate in exchange for information about a legal case in which he was implicated. The court said Sarkozy will be entitled to request to be detained at home with an electronic bracelet. Sarkozy also plans to appeal and will remain free while he does so.

This is the first time in France’s modern history that a former president has been convicted of corruption.

Sarkozy’s co-defendants – his lawyer and friend Thierry Herzog, 65, and now-retired magistrate Gilbert Azibert, 74 – were also found guilty and given the same sentence.