Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy Sentenced to Prison; it is a historical failure. Politics convulses in France

A French court on Monday sentenced former French President Nicolas Sarkozy to three years in prison for corruption and influence peddling, but suspended the sentence for two years.

Nicolas Sarkozy was president from 2007 to 2012 and was convicted of trying to illegally obtain information from a high-ranking magistrate in 2014 about an ongoing investigation into his campaign finances.

The judge said Sarkozy did not need to spend time in jail. He could serve his sentence by wearing an electronic bracelet at home.

The Paris prosecutor had requested a two-year prison sentence and a two-year suspended sentence for Sarkozy and his co-defendants, his lawyer Thierry Herzog and former magistrate Gilbert Azibert.

Herzog and Azibert were found guilty and sentenced to prison.

After a lengthy investigation and legal entanglements, the trial began late last year. The judge handed down Sarkozy's sentence this Monday afternoon (French time) in front of a packed courtroom.

He was dubbed the "wiretapping case." It began in 2013 when investigators tapped phones belonging to Sarkozy and his lawyer Herzog, in the context of an investigation against Sarkozy.

They discovered that the two men promised Magistrate Gilbert Azibert a prestigious position in Monaco, in exchange for information on an ongoing investigation into allegations that Sarkozy had accepted illegal payments from L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt for his successful campaign. presidential 2007.

Sarkozy faces other accusations. In just over two weeks he will face trial again on charges of violating campaign finance rules during his failed 2012 re-election bid by working with a friendly public relations firm to hide the true cost of his campaign.

In another case, French prosecutors are investigating Libya's alleged illegal campaign finance. The late former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi reportedly provided Sarkozy's 2007 campaign with millions of euros shipped to Paris in suitcases.

Other French leaders convicted

In 2011, former French President Jacques Chirac was found guilty of embezzlement of public funds and sentenced to a two-year suspended prison sentence for employing fictitious civil servants when he was mayor of Paris in the early 1990s.

The last French head of state sentenced to prison was Marshal Philippe Pétain in 1945, for treason after collaborating with the Nazis.

Rain of criticism of Kamala Harris for wearing a racist outfit

 Fashion is a very powerful communication tool. In any setting and situation, stylistic choice is a non-verbal communication tool that, if properly analyzed, conveys very valuable information.

In politics, fashion and image go hand in hand. What did Theresa May want to convey when she dressed in a link necklace and animal print shoes? Or what was Melania Trump doing in a devastated area with a parka that had an offensive message inscribed on the back of it? Everything communicates and more when you are in the spotlight.

The new vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris, has seen how all eyes were on her at the same moment her name came to light. Every gesture, word and act were analyzed to the smallest detail. So far, everything has been praise.

She liked it when Harris chose young Christopher John Rogers to design her outfit for Joe Biden's inauguration. An American, feminist and inclusive designer. Also when, on the eve of that day, she chose a camel coat signed by Pyer Moss, the signature of black designer Kerby Jean-Raymond, known for his activism against racial injustice and for his efforts to help and support little girls. companies during the crises caused by the covid-19 pandemic.

But her luck seems to have been cut short by choosing an outfit signed by Dolce & Gabbana to attend a luncheon with President Joe Biden. The vice president dressed in a gray blazer with suit pants and a black sweater topped with a necklace.

Vittoria Vignone, who runs the popular Kamala's Closet Instagram account, was quick to ask the question: "Was it an oversight on the part of her team?" Faced with the barrage of criticism and media noise, according to The Guardian, Vignone chose to temporarily close the account.

Despite this drastic decision, the comments that branded the brand "racist" and "sexist" were noted. "Someone needs to seriously tell their team about Dolce & Gabbana's problem with race issues," wrote one. At the moment, the Italian firm has not commented on the matter.

Dolce & Gabbana's morality has been called into question on several occasions. One of the most notorious was a 2019 campaign that, through three videos, were criticized for "trivializing" Chinese culture and representing Asian women in a stereotypical way. The firm apologized and subsequently removed the videos.

Before that, the firm already starred in another controversy in 2006 with a notorious campaign for the men's collection in which four men appeared to be staging a group rape. Also, a few years later, Madonna added fuel to the fire and starred in another campaign where she was portrayed as a housewife.