PARIS – Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been stripped of the country’s highest honour by a public decree expelling him from the Legion of Honour, German Press Agency (dpa) reported.
The decree was given a retroactive effect from May 17, the day when an appeals court upheld Sarkozy’s conviction for bribery and illegally peddling influence.
In December, France’s highest court had sided with a lower court, ruling that he must serve a three-year prison sentence, two of which were suspended.
He was to serve the third year at home with an electronic tag, which he has since been allowed to remove under certain conditions.
According to the newspaper Le Monde, Sarkozy is only the second French head of state to have this honour revoked.
Convicted criminals are not eligible for membership of the Legion of Honour. – June 16, 2025