Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has gone on trial in Paris, accused of taking millions of euros in illegal funds from late Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to finance his 2007 election campaign.
In exchange, the prosecution claims Sarkozy promised to help Gaddafi fight his reputation as a pariah in Western countries.
Sarkozy (69) was the president of France from 2007 to 2012.
He has always denied the charges, saying they were leveled against him by people motivated to bring him down.
The investigation was opened in 2013, two years after Saif al-Islam, the son of the then Libyan leader, first accused Sarkozy of taking millions of his father’s campaign finance money.
The following year, Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine – a long-time intermediary between France and the Middle East – said he had written proof that Sarkozy’s campaign had been “heavily” financed by Tripoli, and that €50m (£43m) of payments had been made. continued even after he became president.
Twelve other people – accused of engineering the pact with Gaddafi – are on trial alongside Sarkozy. They all deny the allegations.
Sarkozy’s wife, former supermodel and singer of Italian origin Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, was last year accused of hiding evidence related to the Gaddafi case and conspiring with criminals to commit fraud, which she denies.
Since losing re-election in 2012, Sarkozy has been the target of several criminal investigations.
He also appealed against the verdict of February 2024 in which he was convicted guilty of excessive spending in the 2012 re-election campaignthen hire a PR firm to cover it up. He was sentenced to one year, of which six months were suspended.
In 2021, he was found guilty of attempting to bribe a judge in 2014 and became the first former French president to receive a prison sentence. In December, the Paris Court of Appeal ruled that it could serve time at home wearing the tag instead of going to jail.
Sarkozy was not wearing a badge when he arrived at the court in Paris on Monday morning.
But that’s only because the details of that punishment have yet to be worked out.
It is likely that during this three-month trial for the so-called Libyan connection, the former president will appear with the device.
The trial continues until April 10. If found guilty, Sarkozy faces up to 10 years in prison.
