Former French president, Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to one year under house arrest over illegal campaign financing, a court in Paris ruled on Thursday.
The court ruled that the 66-year-old could serve the sentence in the form of electronically monitored house arrest with an ankle bracelet.
According to the court, Sarkozy exceeded the capped campaign expenses in 2012 in his ultimately failed re-election campaign, the conservative governed from the Elysee Palace from 2007 to 2012.
In France, campaign expenses are capped to create more equality of opportunity between candidates.
The maximum allowed in 2012 was 22.5 million euros (26.1 million dollars); Sarkozy’s team was said to have spent at least 42.8 million. (dpa/NAN)