The former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was deprived of the highest honor of his Legion of Honor after being convicted of corruption, according to an official method order issued Sunday.
The conservative single-term president has been plagued by legal issues since leaving the office in 2012. In December, France's Supreme Court insisted on his conviction of influence and corruption, ordering him to wear an electronic ankle tag within 12 months.
Sarkozy remains a major figure in French politics, and in 2021 the lower court was found guilty of trying to bribe judges and peddling influence in exchange for confidential information about his investigation into his 2007 campaign finance.
Sarkozy, who has removed his electronic tag this month, brought the case to the European Court of Human Rights for appeal. His attorney, Patrice Spinosi, said he had noticed the revocation of the award, but stressed that the appeal was still under trial.
The final ECHR ruling against France will “hint on review of criminal convictions targeted [Sarkozy]Spinosi said on Sunday.
Emmanuel Macron opposes the decision, but the rules for the French Supreme State Awards state that any recipients sentenced to a prison term equal to or greater than one year will be excluded from the order.
The French president often meets with Sarkozy, who argues that his predecessor was elected to the country's highest position, “very important that the former president is respected very much”.
The only former president's revoked Legion of Honor was Philippe Pétain, the head of the French wartime Vichy regime, who was convicted in August 1945 for high treason and conspiracy with the enemy.
Others deprived of honors include former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, who was found to have used performance-enhanced drugs, while filmmaker Harvey Weinstein was convicted of sexual abuse targeting women.
Sarkozy's legal dilemma is not over yet. He was convicted of illegal campaign financing in his failed 2012 re-election campaign and is currently on trial for illegal campaign financing by late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
The court is expected to make a judgment in the latter case in September, with prosecutors demanding a sentence of seven years in prison. Sarkozy denied the charges.
