Nicolas Sarkozy Avoids Electronic Ankle Tag in 2012 Campaign Funding Case

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy will not serve his sentence with an electronic ankle tag as punishment for illegal funding of his 2012 re-election bid, an informed source said on Wednesday. The court decided against imposing the tracker due to Sarkozy's advanced age, the source with knowledge of the case told AFP.

Sarkozy is 71. He has faced multiple legal cases since leaving office after a single term from 2007 to 2012. Sarkozy has denied all allegations in all cases. Last year he became modern France's first-ever president to go to jail, serving 20 days in a case related to alleged Libyan funding in his 2007 election campaign.

His appeal trial in that matter is ongoing.

Sarkozy has also received two definitive convictions in other cases. In one, the country's top court last year upheld a six-month term in the so-called Bygmalion case. That ruling found he had overspent on his failed 2012 re-election bid with a PR firm called Bygmalion and then attempted to cover it up.

A court on Tuesday ruled he would not, citing his age. In 2024 he had exhausted his last legal recourse in a separate case over trying to extract favours from a judge. He previously served a sentence with an ankle tag that was removed in May last year after several months, also due to his age.

A court in March had rejected his request to merge both sentences and thereby avoid additional time with an ankle tag.

Sarkozy lost that election. The illegal funding conviction is one of several that have followed him since he left the presidency. Sarkozy arrived at the courtroom in Paris after a break during a hearing in April. His legal troubles have spanned years, with multiple trials and appeals.

The latest decision means he will avoid further electronic monitoring at this time. " — Agence France-Presse, May 7 2026 (South China Morning Post) The source close to the case said Sarkozy's advanced age played a role in the decision not to impose the ankle tag.