A Paris court found former French President Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of illegally financing his 2012 election campaign.

The judge continues to read out the verdict. The punishment has not yet been announced, according to local media.

Sarkozy himself did not come to the announcement of the verdict. The former President of France is represented in court by his lawyer Thierry Erzogh.

The court hearings in this case were held from May 20 to June 22. Sarkozy came to them only once to testify, the media note..

The case considered by the Paris court was named Bygmalion - after the name of the PR agency that was involved in information support of Sarkozy's 2012 election campaign..

According to the prosecution, the politician's campaign headquarters used fake bills for meetings organized by the agency to hide excess spending on the presidential campaign..

As part of this case, charges were brought against 14 persons, Sarkozy - in the illegal financing of the election campaign.. The ex-president of France himself declared his innocence, denying the excess spending during this campaign.

The prosecutor's office demanded to sentence Sarkozy to six months in prison. In addition, the prosecution asked for another six months of probation and a € 3,750 fine..