According to The TelegraphMr. Sarkozy was accused of receiving a suitcase of illegal donations, about 50 million euros, from the government of the late Libyan leader Gaddafi. The above case is considered the most controversial case as it is the first time a former French head of state has been charged with conspiracy to commit crimes with a foreign government since World War II.
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy appeared in Paris court on January 6, 2025
If convicted, Mr. Sarkozy could face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The trial took place in the context that the French Supreme Court had previously upheld the one-year house arrest sentence for Mr. Sarkozy in another corruption case.
This case stems from an investigation lasting more than ten years, with investigative news site Mediapart releasing a series of documents in 2012. After a 10-year anti-corruption investigation, the court will hear the allegations. what investigators call a “corruption pact” between Mr. Sarkozy and the regime in Libya.
According to the investigation, Mr. Ziad Takieddine, a French-Lebanese arms broker, told prosecutors that he was the intermediary who introduced former French President Sarkozy to the late Libyan leader Gaddafi. After that, this person also directly transported many suitcases of cash from Libya to France to finance Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy’s presidential campaign in 2007.
Politico Citing prosecutors, the above amount of money was illegally transferred into the French financial system through intermediary channels and showed signs of money laundering to hide the illegal origin of the transaction. The court will now consider whether the regime in Libya demanded diplomatic, legal and business incentives in exchange for funding Sarkozy’s presidential campaign.
What violation caused former French President Sarkozy to be sentenced to 2 years in prison?
According to The Guardian, The historic trial of the former French president and 12 others, including three former French ministers, for conspiring to receive money from a foreign leader on a large scale, threatening to seriously damage trust. of voters in French politics when voters’ trust is already at a low level. All defendants denied the charges.
Former French President Sarkozy denounced the allegations as “prosecutorial delusions” and part of a conspiracy against him, asserting that he never received any funding for his crimes. election campaign from the late Libyan leader Gaddafi. Mr Sarkozy insisted there was no evidence of any such transfers.
This is the third criminal case that Mr. Sarkozy has faced since leaving the Elysee Palace in 2012. Previously in 2021, he was sentenced to 1 year in prison for intentionally exceeding spending limits during the war. 2012 presidential campaign.
