ISTANBUL

France's Court of Cassation on Wednesday rejected Nicolas Sarkozy's appeal in the Bygmalion affair, pronouncing the second final criminal conviction of the former president following his wiretapping case.

Sarkozy is definitively convicted in the Bygmalion affair after the Court of Cassation rejected his appeal following the recommendations of the Advocate General at the hearing on Oct. 8, according to broadcaster BFMTV.

In the Bygmalion affair, Sarkozy was sentenced on Feb. 14, 2024, by the Paris Court of Appeal to one year imprisonment, including six months of mandatory imprisonment, for the illegal financing of his failed 2012 presidential campaign.

He was accused of receiving false invoices from the Bygmalion company, which ran the campaign, to disguise his election spending as a party activity.

The Court of Cassation ruled that "illegal campaign financing has been established."

"Indeed, the candidate personally authorized his staff to incur campaign expenses on his behalf, even though he knew these expenses would lead to exceeding the legal spending limit," the ruling said.

The new final conviction could reportedly further complicate Sarkozy’s legal prospects as he prepares for the appeal trial in the Libyan case scheduled from March 16 to June 3.

In September, the former French president was sentenced to five years in prison for conspiracy in a case involving the Libyan financing of his 2007 election campaign.

The court found Sarkozy, who denied all wrongdoing, guilty of criminal conspiracy but cleared him of passive corruption and other illegal financing charges.

After Sarkozy was imprisoned, his lawyers filed a request for his release. A French court approved the request pending appeal and ordered the former president's release under judicial supervision on Oct. 10, just 20 days after he began serving his sentence at La Sante Prison.

Last December, the Court of Cassation also rejected his appeal in the wiretapping case, making his conviction final and resulting in a one-year sentence under house arrest with an electronic ankle bracelet, which was removed in May.

In that case, the former head of state was found guilty of attempting in 2014 to bribe Court of Cassation judge Gilbert Azibert, seeking confidential information with the assistance of his lawyer, Thierry Herzog.