Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy risks being re-arrested or placed under electronic surveillance in the near future. On March 9, 2026, the Paris Tribunal rejected his request to merge two final sentences, the Bismuth case and the Bygmalion case.
In the Bygmalion case, Sarkozy was finally convicted on November 26, 2025, after his appeal was dismissed: he received a one-year prison sentence, including six months of actual imprisonment. He had previously served part of his sentence under an electronic monitoring bracelet in the wiretapping case.
The denial of the merger means the former president will have to serve these six months. The court will most likely impose an electronic monitoring bracelet or partial imprisonment. A full prison term is unlikely due to his age (Sarkozy is 71) and health, but a real prison sentence remains technically possible.
Sarkozy’s lawyers have already announced they will appeal the tribunal’s decision. If the appeal is unsuccessful, the six-month sentence could begin in the coming weeks.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that Sarkozy’s very difficult appeals trial begins on March 16, 2026, in the case of alleged Libyan financing of his 2007 presidential campaign. In the first instance, in September 2025, he was sentenced to five years in prison for participating in a criminal organization. It was for this same case that he spent 20 days in La Santé prison in October-November 2025, after which he was released under judicial supervision pending appeal.
Therefore, if events unfold unfavorably in the spring or summer of 2026, 71-year-old Nicolas Sarkozy could face either wearing the bracelet again or, in the most severe scenario, being returned to prison.
Sarkozy has consistently denied all charges and called them politically motivated. His supporters consider the ongoing proceedings a “witch hunt,” while critics point out that this is already the third criminal case to result in a guilty verdict against the former head of state.