On Wednesday, an appeals court in Paris sentenced former French head of state Nicolas Sarkozy to three years in prison, one of which is suspended, during which he is placed under surveillance with an electronic bracelet, after he was convicted of corruption and influence-peddling, in an unprecedented step for a former French president.

The Paris Court of Appeal upheld the judgment of the Court of First Instance on March 1, 2021 against the former right-wing president, who heard the decision sitting on the defendants' bench.

Then his lawyer, Jacqueline Lavon, announced that the former president would appeal the decision to the Court of Cassation. "Nicolas Sarkozy is innocent of the charges against him," she said. "We will continue the legal path to the end," she added, speaking of an "amazing" decision.

The former president left the courtroom without making any statement.

Nicolas Sarkozy, 68, became the first former president to be sentenced to a suspended sentence, after his predecessor, Jacques Chirac, was sentenced to a two-year suspended prison term in 2011 in a fictitious work case in Paris.

Two similar rulings were issued against Tiare Herzog (67 years), his historical lawyer, and former Chief Justice Gilbert Azibir, who were convicted of a "corruption deal" with Nicolas Sarkozy in 2014 and were sentenced to the same penalty.

The Court of Appeal also issued two rulings depriving Sarkozy of his civil rights for three years, making him ineligible for any elections, and preventing Herzog from practicing his work for three years.

On December 13, the Public Prosecution Office requested that the three defendants be imprisoned for a suspended term of three years. The defendants have always denied any corruption.

Sarkozy, who held the position of president in his country from (2007-2012), objected "with the greatest severity" to these accusations during the appeal trial, assuring the court that he "did not corrupt anyone."

This decision was expected when Nicolas Sarkozy will be retried in the Court of Appeal in the fall in the case of illegal financing of his presidential campaign in 2012. He is threatened with a third resounding trial, as the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office requested Thursday that he be referred to the Criminal Court in the case of suspected Libyan financing of his campaign. Presidential for the year 2007.