Disgraced Nicolas Sarkozy has vowed to clear his name and take his fight all the way to the European Supreme Court of Human Rights.
The former French president said his conviction for trying to bribe a judge was deeply unjust and that the case against him was riddled with inconsistencies.
"I can't accept being convicted for something I didn't do," he said.
Sarkozy, 66, was convicted on Monday of forming a "corruption pact" with his former lawyer and friend Thierry Herzog.
The crime was "particularly serious having been committed by a former president who was the guarantor of the independence of the judiciary", the judge said.
On Wednesday, in an interview with Le Figaro, an unrepentant Sarkozy hit back.
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A courtroom sketch shows former French president Nicolas Sarkozy and his two co-defendants, his lawyer Thierry Herzog and former senior magistrate Gilbert Azibert during the final hearing of a corruption trial. AFP -
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy arrives at the Paris court house to hear the final verdict in a corruption trial. AFP -
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, wearing a protective face mask, arrives for the verdict in his trial on charges of corruption and influence peddling, at Paris courthouse. Reuters -
Guillaume Sarkozy, brother of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, arrives for the verdict in Sarkozy's trial on charges of corruption and influence peddling, at Paris courthouse. Reuters -
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy arrives at the Paris court house to hear the final verdict in a corruption trial. AFP -
French lawyer Thierry Herzog, wearing a protective face mask, arrives with his lawyers Paul-Albert Iweins and Herve Temime, for the verdict in his trial on charges of corruption and influence peddling, at Paris courthouse. Reuters -
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, wearing a protective face mask, arrives for the verdict in his trial on charges of corruption and influence peddling, at Paris courthouse. Reuters
"I appealed the decision, maybe I will have to pursue this fight all the way to the European Court of Human Rights.
"That would be painful for me to have to get my own country condemned, but I'm ready to do so because that would be the price of democracy."
He is scheduled to be interviewed on TF1 TV news on Wednesday evening.
Sarkozy, who was sentenced to three years in jail, is not expected to spend time behind bars.
Two years were suspended and the remaining year would be served at home with an electronic bracelet.
The judgment was "riddled with inconsistencies", Sarkozy said.
"It doesn't provide any proof, but just a bunch of circumstantial evidence."
The conviction, which Sarkozy suggested stemmed from the political bias of investigating judges, seems to have ended any hopes of his political revival.
"I've said that I won't be a candidate and I stand by that," he said.
Sarkozy has three other legal cases pending.
On March 17, he is scheduled to face a second trial over accusations of fraudulently overspending in his failed 2012 re-election bid.
He is charged over allegations he received millions of euros from the late Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi for his 2007 election campaign.
And in January, prosecutors opened a probe into alleged influence peddling by Sarkozy, over his advisory activities in Russia.
