France's ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy sentenced to three years in jail over corruption charges

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to three years in jail, two of which suspended, over corruption and influence-peddling.

Sarkozy, 66, was convicted on Monday for bribing French senior magistrate Gilbert Azibert by offering him a prestigious job in Monaco in exchange for information about a criminal inquiry into his political party.

The ex-President will have the opportunity to serve his prison sentence at home with an electronic bracelet. In France, prison time generally applies to jail terms exceeding two years.

The case hinged on taped conversations between Azibert and Sarkozy's ex-lawyer Thierry Herzog, which were recorded by investigators probing allegations that Sarkozy accepted illicit payments from Liliane Bettencourt, one of the principal shareholders of L'Oréal, to finance his 2007 presidential campaign. 

Sarkozy will face a second trial between 17 March and 15 April over the "Bygmalion" affair, where he stands accused of having fraudulently overspent in his 2012 presidential campaign.