Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of criminal conspiracy in a trial over the alleged illegal financing of his 2007 presidential campaign with funds from the government of then-Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The Paris criminal court on Thursday acquitted Sarkozy of all other charges, including illegal campaign financing and passive corruption. However, the guilty ruling implies that Sarkozy, who led France between 2007 and 2012 and retired from active politics in 2017, will serve in prison even if he appeals.
What’s the case?
The 70-year-old Sarkozy was accused of striking a deal with Muammar Gaddafi in 2005, while serving as France’s interior minister. This he did in order to secure campaign financing in exchange for supporting the then-isolated Libyan government on the international stage. Although these accusations were brought against him, the former French president has denied the charges, claiming the case is politically motivated.
Two of Sarkozy’s closest associates during his presidency, former ministers Claude Gueant and Brice Hortefeux, were also found guilty of criminal association but acquitted of other charges. Eric Woerth, Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign treasurer, was acquitted, Al Jazeera reported.
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 the Libyan authorities in order to obtain or attempt to obtain financial support”. The court, however, did not accept prosecutors’ claims that Sarkozy directly benefited from the alleged illegal campaign financing.
The case dates back to 2011, when a Libyan news agency and Gaddafi himself claimed that the Libyan state had secretly funneled millions of euros into Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign. The French investigative outlet Mediapart in 2012, then published what it described as a Libyan intelligence memo referencing a 50-million-euro funding agreement. Former French President had denounced the document as a forgery and filed a defamation suit.
The trial included testimony from seven former Libyan officials, financial transfer records, trips to Libya by Claude Guéant and Brice Hortefeux, and the notebooks of former Libyan oil minister Shukri Ghanem. Libya’s long-time dictator, Gaddafi, was overthrown and killed by opposition forces during the 2011 Arab Spring, amid a NATO-led military intervention in which France, under Sarkozy’s leadership, played a key role.
Other legal cases
Sarkozy faced numerous legal challenges since leaving office. He was previously convicted for corruption and sentenced to a one-year jail term, which he served under electronic tagging for three months before being granted conditional release. He also received a one-year jail term, six months with another six months suspended, in the so-called “Bygmalion affair” involving illegal campaign financing, which he has appealed at France’s top court.
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