When the Court of Cassation, France’s highest court, upheld Nicolas Sarkozy’s conviction, the former president’s legal troubles deepened, leaving him no further avenue to appeal the verdict. Even though this outcome was widely predicted, France’s political, media, and business elite rallied around him, portraying him not as an offender but as a victim of ‘judicial persecution’. Their defense goes far beyond personal loyalty; it reflects an effort to protect the elite system in which Sarkozy once thrived. With this verdict, the elite must be wondering what more they can do to show support for one of their own who has now been definitively convicted.

Sarkozy’s legal troubles stem from two major corruption cases in which he has been convicted. The first, the Bygmalion Affair, centers on the illegal overspending of his failed 2012 reelection campaign, which the Court of Cassation has now ruled on. The second and more dramatic case led to his incarceration in October 2025 – the Libyan funding case. Prosecutors established that he was the ringleader among his associates in a conspiracy to solicit illicit funds from the regime of Muammar Gaddafi for his successful 2007 presidential bid, leading to his conviction for criminal conspiracy and illicit financing. After spending 20 days in Paris’ La Santé prison, he was temporarily released under judicial supervision, while his appeal is expected to take place from March to June next year.

In the just concluded Bygmalion case, prosecutors alleged that his team used fake invoices to conceal spending far beyond legal limits, inflating bills for rallies and events run by the Bygmalion company. When the scandal........

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