Paris, Mar. 27, (dpa/GNA) – French prosecutors requested on Thursday a seven-year prison sentence for former president Nicolas Sarkozy, who is facing charges of accepting illegal campaign funding from the regime of now-deceased Libyan ruler Moamer Gaddafi.
The National Financial Prosecutor’s Office also asked the Paris court to fine Sarkozy €300,000 ($324,000).
Sarkozy, who was president from 2007 to 2012, rejects the charges, which also include embezzling public funds and bribery.
Prosecutors allege that millions in illicit cash were funnelled into Sarkozy’s successful 2007 presidential election campaign in exchange for political favours, including lucrative deals with French companies.
Additionally, in exchange for the alleged payments, efforts would be made to restore Libya’s standing on the global stage, as the country was ostracised at the time.
Gaddafi was received with military honours at the Élysée Palace in December 2007.
The prosecutors dismissed the defence’s claim that the accusations against Sarkozy were merely an act of revenge for his role in leading the international coalition that helped overthrow the Gaddafi regime in 2011.
The case heavily relies on testimony from French-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine, who alleged that in late 2006 or early 2007, he delivered several suitcases – prepared by the Libyan regime – containing millions of euros to the French Interior Ministry, then led by Sarkozy.
The trial runs until April 8, with no set date for the verdict.
Sarkozy’s co-defendants, former ministers Claude Guéant, Éric Woerth and Brice Hortefeux, face charges of aiding and abetting.
Prosecutors have requested six years in prison and a €100,000 fine for Guéant, three years in prison and a €150,000 fine for Hortefeux and one year in prison with a €3,750 fine for Woerth.
The 70-year-old former president has previously been convicted in two separate trials.
GNA
PDC