France: Nikolás Sarkozy’s Trial for Illegal Campaign Funding by Gaddafi Started · Global Voices

The former President of France, who is accused of receiving illegal funding in 2007, started today (06.01.2025) in Paris in order to strengthen his campaign. Nicolas Sarkozy’s trial is expected to be completed next April and will employ to a huge extent political current in France, since 12 people are still accused in the same case, including former ministers (Bris Ortfet, Claude Guaad and Eric Voert) and former officials of the Gaddafi regime. CORVERSE The 69-year-old former president of France is accused in particular of corruption, embezzlement of public money, illegal funding of his campaign and gang formation, while facing 10-year prison sentences, deprivation of his civil rights and financial fine. Nicolas Sarkozy himself has described the whole affair as “myth”, while his environment shows him “fighting” and “decided” to prove his innocence. Affaire Kadhafi: l’arrivée de Nicolas Sarkozy, ancien président de la République, au tribunal judicaire de Paris ADVERSION — BFMTV (@BFMTV) What the indictment says According to the indictment in 2005, when Sarkozy was Minister of the governments of Jacques Chirac, during an official visit to Libya he met with Gaddafi, who then tried to get out of the status of international diplomatic isolation, and promised him that France would help him if he managed to win the 2007 presidential election. To this end Sarkozy asked Gaddafi to fund his campaign with an amount currently estimated to be 50 million euros. The existence of a secret agreement between Sarkozy and Gaddafi confirmed at times both Gaddafi’s son Saf al Islam and other Libyan officials. French justice began to deal with the case in 2012, that is shortly after Nicolas’ term expired. Sarkozy in the presidency of the French Republic and about a year after Gaddafi died, who was known to have been killed in 2011. In their 555-page indictment the French judicial authorities detail the very major difficulties encountered in investigating the case , which is considered extremely complex and with many ‘grey zones’ . REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes It is noted that this is the fifth time Nicolas Sarkozy has been faced with French justice since the end of his term of office in 2012 in the presidency of the Republic, while he is the only President of France who has already been finally sentenced to a corruption case, a side of it for which he is currently on trial. The sentence imposed on him was a year in prison served at home with an electronic bracelet.