Paris [France], September 25 (ANI): Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of criminal conspiracy in a case involving alleged illegal financing of his 2007 presidential campaign with funds from the government of then-Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Al Jazeera reported.
The Paris criminal court acquitted the 70-year-old of all other charges, including illegal campaign financing and passive corruption, on Thursday. However, the guilty verdict means Sarkozy, who served as France’s president between 2007 and 2012 and retired from active politics in 2017, will serve jail time even if he appeals.
Sarkozy was accused of striking a deal with Gaddafi in 2005, when he was interior minister, to secure campaign financing in exchange for supporting Libya on the international stage. Sarkozy has denied all charges, calling the case politically motivated.
Two of Sarkozy’s closest associates during his presidency — former ministers Claude Guéant and Brice Hortefeux — were also found guilty of criminal association, though acquitted of other charges. Eric Woerth, Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign treasurer, was acquitted.
Judge Nathalie Gavarino stated that Sarkozy, as a serving minister and party leader at the time, had “allowed his close collaborators and political supporters over whom he had authority and who acted in his name” to approach Libyan authorities to obtain or attempt to obtain financial support. The court, however, did not accept prosecutors’ claim that Sarkozy directly benefited from the alleged financing.
The case dates back to 2011 when a Libyan news agency and Gaddafi claimed Libya had secretly funneled millions of euros into Sarkozy’s campaign. In 2012, investigative outlet Mediapart published a Libyan intelligence memo referencing a 50-million-euro funding agreement. Sarkozy denounced it as a forgery and filed a defamation suit.
The trial included testimony from seven former Libyan officials, financial transfer records, trips to Libya by Guéant and Hortefeux, and notebooks of the late Libyan oil minister Shukri Ghanem, who drowned in Vienna in 2012. Prosecutors said Sarkozy knowingly benefited from a “corruption pact” with Gaddafi’s regime.
Libya’s dictator was overthrown and killed during the 2011 Arab Spring amid NATO intervention, in which France under Sarkozy played a key role.
Sarkozy has faced multiple legal challenges since leaving office, including previous convictions for corruption and illegal campaign financing. He has also lost the Legion of Honour, France’s highest distinction. Despite these setbacks, Sarkozy remains influential in France’s right-wing politics and maintains ties with President Emmanuel Macron. (ANI)
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