Former President Sarkozy: I am innocent, but I will not return to active politics

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, convicted of corruption, will fight if necessary before the European Court of Human Rights to prove his innocence. “I cannot accept that I have been convicted for something I did not do,” he said. a meeting with the daily Le Figaro. “There is no evidence against me.” However, it rules out a return to active politics.

Sarkozy (66) was sentenced Monday to three years in prison, including two on probation, for corruption and abuse of power. He allegedly tried to obtain confidential information from a senior official about an ongoing judicial investigation against him. This official was reportedly promised a job in Monaco in return.

The former president (2007-2012) announced immediately after the verdict that he would appeal. Now, for the first time, he will also discuss the substantial content of pronunciation. “I have had thousands of statements of support, hundreds of phone calls,” he said in Le Figaro. But above all, he is very hard on the job of judges, which he thinks is not good.

Doubts of impartiality judges

During the judicial investigation, “all the rules of procedure were violated”. Sarkozy says he doubts the impartiality of judges. According to him, the verdict is linked to nonsense.

“I don’t want to call it a political verdict because it would harm our democracy,” he begins cautiously. But then he goes wild. According to him, everyone at the trial saw that nothing remained of the allegations.

“It is written in black and white in the pieces that I did not press Monaco for a job. Nobody got paid a dime. Nobody got a profit. There were no casualties. “Sarkozy said.

“A total of 4,500 telephone conversations were overheard. In which democracy can an opposition leader – because it was me – be spied on in this way, for seven months, when the contents of these telephone conversations have also been leaked in the press? Sarkozy wonders. “If this had happened in Putin’s Russia, human rights activists would have been screaming assassination long ago.”

No longer a candidate

In the interview, he is also asked about his political ambitions. In his party, the right-wing Les Républicains, some are hoping for his return. Presidential elections will be held in France in more than a year. “I left active politics behind me,” said Sarkozy. “I won’t run. But that doesn’t mean I won’t give my opinion on the election.”

After all, Le Figaro asks him what he did after the judge’s verdict. “I spent the evening with my family. We watched a series: The slaughter. “