Paris: Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of criminal conspiracy in a long-running trial over allegations that his 2007 presidential campaign was illegally financed with funds from Libya’s late leader Muammar Gaddafi.
The Paris criminal court on Thursday convicted Sarkozy, 70, of conspiracy but acquitted him of other charges, including illegal campaign financing and passive corruption. Despite his plans to appeal, the ruling means Sarkozy will face jail time. He is the first former French head of state in modern history to receive such a sentence.
Prosecutors alleged that Sarkozy struck a secret deal with Gaddafi in 2005, when he was interior minister, to secure campaign funds in exchange for supporting Libya’s then-isolated government on the world stage.
Judge Nathalie Gavarino said Sarkozy allowed his close collaborators and political supporters, over whom he had authority and who acted in his name, to approach Libyan officials to seek financial backing. However, the court stopped short of declaring him the direct beneficiary of the alleged illicit funding.
The case stems from claims made in 2011, when Libyan officials and Gaddafi himself suggested millions of euros were funneled into Sarkozy’s campaign. Evidence presented included financial transfers, records of trips to Libya by senior Sarkozy allies, and notes by Libya’s former oil minister Shukri Ghanem, who died under mysterious circumstances in Vienna in 2012.
Two of Sarkozy’s closest associates during his presidency, former ministers Claude Gueant and Brice Hortefeux, were also convicted of criminal association but acquitted of other charges. His former campaign treasurer, Eric Woerth, was cleared of wrongdoing.
The ruling adds to a growing list of legal setbacks for Sarkozy, who served as France’s president from 2007 to 2012 before retiring from politics in 2017. He was previously convicted of corruption and influence-peddling, serving part of a one-year sentence under electronic surveillance.
In a separate case, known as the ‘Bygmalion affair,’ Sarkozy was sentenced to one year in prison, with six months suspended, for exceeding legal campaign spending limits. He has appealed both convictions to France’s highest court. Sarkozy has also lost the Legion of Honour, France’s highest distinction, as a result of his corruption record.
