Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is once again in court, with his appeal trial commencing on Wednesday, November 8. This appeal is in response to the original verdict from the

"Bygmalion" scandal, named after the company that organized Sarkozy's rallies during the 2012 presidential election. In September 2021, the ex-president was initially sentenced to one year in prison for exceeding the legal campaign spending limit.

Sarkozy will be retried alongside nine other defendants, all of whom were convicted in the first trial. They face charges that include fraud or complicity to fraud, breach of trust, concealment, forgery, use or concealment of forgery, and complicity in surpassing the election expenses cap. The nine defendants consist of former members of Sarkozy's UMP party and his campaign, employees of the Bygmalion company and its subsidiary Event & Cie, as well as members of the candidate's campaign team. They are accused of participating in the creation of a system of false invoices intended to hide the true campaign expenses, which amounted to €42.8 million, nearly double the €22.5 million legal limit for a presidential campaign.

During the initial trial, Sarkozy attempted to distance himself from the case, suggesting it did not concern him or only remotely so. He only attended one day of the hearing, the day he was scheduled to be questioned. He placed blame on the UMP, which was then led by his rival, Jean-François Copé, who had close ties with Bygmalion's directors.

In court, Sarkozy argued, "Am I the one who gets the quotes? No. Do I sign the invoices? No. Do I have any political responsibility? Yes. I'm the one who launched the 'Sarkothon' [fundraising campaign] and raised €12 million to pay [to reimburse campaign debt]. And I paid €350,000 out of my own pocket. Do I have any criminal responsibility? No." Photo by Richard Pichet, Wikimedia commons.