France: The judiciary rejected Nicolas Sarkozy's request to give up the electronic bracelet in the Bygmalion case, confirming the execution of the sentence.

The French judiciary decided, on March 9, to reject the request of former president Nicolas Sarkozy to waive the electronic bracelet imposed following his conviction in the Bygmalion case. The court established that the sentence cannot be merged with a previous conviction from the Bismuth case, which concerns corruption and influence peddling.

Sarkozy, at the age of 71, was sentenced to one year in prison, with six months to be served, for the illegal financing of his 2012 presidential campaign. Although the decision is not final and can be contested, the court ruled that the two sentences must be served separately. The former president will return to face justice on March 16 for the appeal trial in the Libyan case, where he was sentenced to five years in prison.