A magistrate has ordered former French president Nicolas Sarkozy to stand trial over irregularities in the funding of his failed 2012 re-election bid, a judicial source said on Tuesday. The charge against Sarkozy, who led France for five years from 2007, exposes the 62-year old conservative politician to a one-year prison sentence if convicted. One of two magistrates handling the case ordered the trial on the charge that Sarkozy spent way more than he was entitled to, despite warnings from his accountants. Lawyer Herzog highlighted the fact that only one of the two magistrates in charge of the case signed the trial order. That was the first conviction of a French head of state since Nazi collaborator Marshal Philippe Petain in 1945.

Source: The Star February 07, 2017 12:34 UTC