Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy is to be fitted with en electronic tag for a year after being found guilty of corruption, a source close to the case said on Friday. Sarkozy will wear the ankle monitor from February 7 and will only be allowed out of his home at certain times, the source added.

Nicolas Sarkozy is to be fitted with an electronic tag Friday after being convicted of graft, a source close to the case said, in a first for a former French president.

France‘s highest appeals court in December ordered Sarkozy to wear the tag for a year, after finding him guilty of illegal attempts to secure favours from a judge.

A judge last week decided Sarkozy, 70, would wear the ankle monitor from February 7, the source said.

The right-wing politician, who was president from 2007 to 2012, would only be allowed out of his home at certain times, it said.

Sarkozy’s lawyer Jacqueline Laffont said procedure was “being followed” and she had no further comment.

The former head of state will however be able to apply for conditional release for people aged 70 and above. He turned 70 last week, the day he was summoned by the judge.

In the case for which he is to wear the tag, a court found that Sarkozy and his former lawyer, Thierry Herzog, had formed a “corruption pact” with judge Gilbert Azibert to obtain and share information about an investigating judge.

The deal was done in return for the promise of a plum retirement job for the judge.

The contents of these phone calls led to the 2021 corruption verdict.

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