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| - Nicolas Sarkozy, who governed France as a tough-talking right-wing president from 2007 to 2012, is seen by supporters as the dynamic saviour of his country but by detractors as a vulgar populist mired in corruption. A three-year prison sentence on corruption charges handed by a French court Monday has dealt a terminal blow to any ambition of returning to politics and means his career will now be shadowed by legal disgrace, even though he may never go to jail. Since failing to win a second mandate in 2012 elections, the man who happily allowed himself to be termed the "hyperpresident" was submerged in legal problems, yet still retained support on the right. During his five-year term, Sarkozy, 66, took a hard line on immigration, security and national identity. After winning the presidency at age 52, Sarkozy was initially seen as injecting a much-needed dose of dynamism, making a splash on the international scene and wooing the corporate world. But his presidency was overshadowed by the 2008 financial crisis, and he left office with the lowest popularity ratings of any previous postwar French leader. After his humiliating defeat in the 2012 presidential race to Socialist Francois Hollande -- making him the first president since Valery Giscard d'Estaing (1974-1981) to be denied a second term -- Sarkozy famously promised: "You won't hear about me anymore." That prediction turned out to be premature. His ongoing legal problems and marriage to former top model Carla Bruni have ensured the man known as "Sarko" remained very much in the public eye. Few were surprised when he returned to frontline politics in 2014, winning the leadership of the conservative UMP party, since renamed Les Republicains (LR). He made a fresh bid for the presidency in 2016, trying to bury the "bling-bling" image he gained for his love of the high-life, and casting himself as a defender of the down-and-outs against the elites. Sarkozy didn't even make it past the LR party's primaries but despite the defeat, he has remained hugely popular on the right. "I have a special link with the French. It may stretch, it may tighten, but it exists," the ex-president said at the time. Even now, with no obvious candidate on the right to take on President Emmanuel Macron in 2022, there remained whispers that Sarkozy could yet want another crack at the presidency. Le Monde daily said Monday that he remained a "figure of reference" on the right and noted that key figures in Macron's centrist government, such as Prime Minister Jean Castex and Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, are close Sarkozy allies. Lines of fans queued over last summer to have him sign his latest memoir, "The Time of Storms", which topped best-seller lists for weeks. But the conviction -- just the second ever handed to a contemporary French president after that given to his mentor Jacques Chirac -- will likely end all such speculation. Born on January 28, 1955, the football fanatic and cycling enthusiast is an atypical French politician. The son of a Hungarian immigrant father, Sarkozy has a law degree but unlike most of his peers did not attend the exclusive Ecole Nationale d'Administration (ENA), the well-worn production line for future French leaders. He has served in many roles: mayor, MP, minister, party leader and head of state, with the distinction of being adored by some with as much ardour as he is despised by others. An energetic public speaker, Sarkozy has a pugnacious style seen as an asset by admirers but a liability by detractors who fault his apparent lack of self-control. Few have forgotten his visit to the 2008 agriculture show in Paris -- a fixture on any top politician's calendar -- when he said "get lost, dumbass" to a man who refused to shake his hand. A litany of other legal woes lies ahead: on March 17 he is scheduled to face a second trial over accusations of fraudulently overspending in his failed 2012 reelection bid. He has also been charged over allegations he received millions of euros from Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi for his 2007 election campaign. And in January, prosecutors opened another probe into alleged influence-peddling by Sarkozy over his advisory activities in Russia. Sarkozy denies the allegations and has accused the judiciary of hounding him. burs-mlr-sjw/js/jv/wai
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