Nicolas Sarkozy convicted of illegal campaign financing in failed 2012 re-election bid

Sarkozy’s campaign spending came to at least €42.8m, nearly double the legal limit, prosecutors said. Photograph: Julien de Rosa/AFP/Getty Images

The former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been convicted of illegal campaign financing in his failed 2012 re-election bid, after the country’s highest court rejected his final appeal.

Sarkozy, who was the country’s rightwing president between 2007 and 2012, was convicted of hiding illegal overspending for his unsuccessful re-election campaign that was shaped by vast American-style rallies.