French Prosecutors Call for Imprisoning Sarkozy

On Tuesday, French prosecutors called for a two year-of prison in addition to a two-year suspended sentence for former President Nicolas Sarkozy in a historical corruption trial of France.

Sarkozy is accused of trying to bribe a judge with a plum retirement job in exchange for inside information on an inquiry into his campaign finances. He risks a sentence of up to 10 years and a fine of €1 million ($1.2 million) if convicted of corruption and influence-peddling.

Prosecutors requested the same term of imprisonment for Sarkozy’s co-defendants including Thierry Herzog and Gilbert Azibert.

Defense lawyers will speak on Wednesday and Thursday.

Sarkozy appeared in court on Monday, on two charges of attempting to bribe a judge and influence-peddling in a phone-tapping scandal.

French media quoted the prosecution team as saying,  Sarkozy offered Judge Gilbert Azibert to obtain a prestigious job in Monaco Principality in exchange for classified information about an investigation into allegations that Sarkozy accepted money from L’Oréal’s heir, Lillian Bettencourt, for his 2007 presidential campaign.

Sarkozy denied any commission of violations in all investigations against him.

Since 2013, the investigators have monitored the phone calls between Sarkozy and his lawyer during their investigation into allegations of Libyan funding in Sarkozy’s campaign in 2007.