Nicolas Sarkozy is back where he used to be – dominating the news and dividing the nation. Thirteen years after he left office, he is about to become the first former French president to be sent to prison after getting a five-year term for criminal conspiracy. And the circumstances are full of the same sulphurous contention that used once to mark his every move. Fresh from his sentencing in the 'Libyan money' trial on Thursday, he spoke with incandescent rage about the 'limitless hatred' of which he said he was still a victim.
From the moment he emerged as a champion of the right, Sarkozy was convinced he had been the target of a left-wing cabal within the French judiciary and media. And with this sentence – he thinks – has come more incontrovertible proof. Why, his supporters are asking, did the court clear him of three of the four charges weighing against him: illegal party funding, embezzlement of Libyan funds, and corruption? Why did the court only convict him of the last charge – the 'catch-all' one of 'criminal association' (often thrown at drug gang members when investigators have nothing else to go on)? And why – having convicted him on this lesser charge – did the court then give him such a humiliating and draconian punishment? Not only did they send a 70-year-old man to five years in jail, it was a shocking 20 years after the offence.
Just when you thought the old passions for and against the man were beginning to fade, suddenly they are back with a vengeance. Many will feel some sympathy with Sarkozy – not necessarily that he is entirely guiltless in this matter of seeking Libyan campaign money. But they will see some truth in his claims of victimisation: that there are indeed some in the Paris 'politico-mediatic-judicial' establishment who loathe the former president and rejoice in bringing him down.
Look through another lens, though, and Sarkozy is not some hard-done-by ex-head of state, but an egotistical and highly influential political operator who has consistently pushed the law to its limits in order to get his way. Why else would there be such a litany of lawsuits against him? Sarkozy’s legacy may be tarnished, but his trial lays bare the divisions in a divided France, revealing how political tensions still resonate deeply across the nation.
From the moment he emerged as a champion of the right, Sarkozy was convinced he had been the target of a left-wing cabal within the French judiciary and media. And with this sentence – he thinks – has come more incontrovertible proof. Why, his supporters are asking, did the court clear him of three of the four charges weighing against him: illegal party funding, embezzlement of Libyan funds, and corruption? Why did the court only convict him of the last charge – the 'catch-all' one of 'criminal association' (often thrown at drug gang members when investigators have nothing else to go on)? And why – having convicted him on this lesser charge – did the court then give him such a humiliating and draconian punishment? Not only did they send a 70-year-old man to five years in jail, it was a shocking 20 years after the offence.
Just when you thought the old passions for and against the man were beginning to fade, suddenly they are back with a vengeance. Many will feel some sympathy with Sarkozy – not necessarily that he is entirely guiltless in this matter of seeking Libyan campaign money. But they will see some truth in his claims of victimisation: that there are indeed some in the Paris 'politico-mediatic-judicial' establishment who loathe the former president and rejoice in bringing him down.
Look through another lens, though, and Sarkozy is not some hard-done-by ex-head of state, but an egotistical and highly influential political operator who has consistently pushed the law to its limits in order to get his way. Why else would there be such a litany of lawsuits against him? Sarkozy’s legacy may be tarnished, but his trial lays bare the divisions in a divided France, revealing how political tensions still resonate deeply across the nation.
