Nicolas Sarkozy has been stripped of his Legion d’honneur award, France’s highest distinction, after his graft conviction. The former French president was found guilty of illegal attempts to obtain favors from a judge.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who led France from 2007 to 2012, has had his Legion d’honneur (Legion of Honor) award revoked after his conviction on graft charges, according to a decree published Sunday.

He has thus become the second French head of state to be stripped of the award after Philippe Petain, who headed the collaborationist Vichy regime during World War II and was convicted in August 1945 for high treason and conspiring with the Nazi occupiers.

The widely-expected decision to take the award back from Sarkozy came despite the opposition of current French President Emmanuel Macron, who said in April that he thought that it was important for “former presidents to be respected.”