Defiant Sarkozy on offensive after graft conviction

PARIS: France's former right-wing president Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday vowed to "go all the way" to clear his name, two days after being handed a three-year sentence for corruption following a trial he portrayed as a travesty of justice.

A Paris court ruled that the 66-year-old right-winger had formed a "corruption pact" with his lawyer Thierry Herzog to convince a judge to obtain and share information about an inquiry into the financing of Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign.

Sarkozy, who in December became France's first modern head of state to appear in the dock, has announced plans to appeal.

In two interviews Wednesday he lambasted the verdict and said he was mulling filing a complaint with Europe's top rights court.

"I never betrayed the trust of the French people," France's president from 2007 to 2012 told TF1 channel in a primetime interview, noting that the French court had convicted him of corruption despite concluding that "not a cent" had changed hands and that no favours had been granted.

With three other legal cases pending against him, Monday's conviction deals a blow to any hope Sarkozy has of making another political comeback after a failed bid to win a presidential nomination in 2016.

Sarkozy, a polarising presence who is a hate figure for many on the left but remains popular on the right, told TF1 he had "turned the page" on his political career.

Despite being given a three-year jail term Sarkozy is not expected to serve time: two of the three years were suspended by the court with the remaining year set to be served at home with an electronic bracelet.