Paris, Sept 27 (dpa/GNA) – Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, has been sentenced to five years in prison, after being found guilty on some counts in a trial, related to alleged campaign funds from Libya.
The Paris Criminal Court convicted the 70-year-old on Thursday of “criminal conspiracy” but acquitted him of charges of bribery, illegal campaign financing, and benefiting from the embezzlement of public funds.
The court did not suspend any part of the sentence, nor did it modify it to allow the sentence to be served at home under electronic surveillance.
Presiding Judge Nathalie Gavarino spoke of the “extraordinary seriousness” of the offence.
The Libya affair revolves around allegations that millions of euros were illegally channelled into Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential election campaign, by the regime of then-Libyan ruler Moamer Gaddafi.
In 2016, a witness said at the end of 2006 or beginning of 2007, he had brought several suitcases prepared in Libya with a total of €5 million ($5.9 million) to the Paris Interior Ministry, which was led by Sarkozy at the time.
According to the indictment, the future president entered into a corruption pact with the Libyan leader. Sarkozy’s confidantes are said to have arranged the alleged cash flows through intermediaries.
The court found that there was no evidence of illegal campaign financing from Libya, and the alleged delivery of millions of euros in suitcases was not verifiable.
However, in its reasoning, the court said it believed the conservative politician had nonetheless attempted to obtain funds from Gaddafi.
In addition to Sarkozy, 12 other suspects were charged in the mammoth trial, including three former ministers.
Sarkozy, who was French president from 2007 to 2012, has always denied the allegations.
Shortly after receiving his sentence, Sarkozy announced that he would appeal the decision, as widely expected.
“I will fight until my last breath to prove my complete innocence,” the 70-year-old conservative said. He called the Paris Criminal Court verdict an “injustice” and a “scandal,” adding that he would “of course” appeal.
Sarkozy said the court wanted to see him sleeping in prison as soon as possible. “If they absolutely want me to sleep in prison, I will sleep in prison, but with my head held high.”
The Paris court issued an arrest warrant for Sarkozy, although it was not immediately enforceable. The date of imprisonment will be set at a summons.
In addition, the court ordered provisional enforcement of the sentence. This means that Sarkozy would have to begin his prison term even if he appeals.
Shortly after the verdict was passed, a spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office could not say whether Sarkozy could take specific action against this particular aspect.
In principle, convicts aged 70 or older can apply for a reduction in their prison sentence.
Prosecutors had sought a seven-year prison sentence and a fine of €300,000 for Sarkozy, citing a whole range of possible quid pro quos for the alleged campaign financing.
It noted that Sarkozy received Gaddafi, who was isolated on the international stage, with military honours at the Élysée Palace at the end of 2007, and that efforts were made to lift the arrest warrant against Gaddafi’s brother-in-law Abdallah Senoussi.
Senoussi had been found guilty in absentia in Paris in 1999, as the main perpetrator of a terrorist attack on a French aircraft, that killed 170 people. The prosecution in his trial also cited economic transactions.
The three-month trial into the Libya affair followed more than 10 years of investigations, launched after Gaddafi’s family themselves claimed to have financed the conservative’s election campaign.
Sarkozy has already been convicted in two other cases. He was convicted of corruption and influence peddling in December 2024, and was sentenced to a one-year sentence at home, wearing an electronic ankle monitor.
The sentence, three years in prison, two of which are suspended, was unprecedented for a former head of state in recent French history.
In February 2024, an appeals court also sentenced him to one year in prison, six months of which were suspended, for excessive campaign expenses for his ultimately unsuccessful 2012 re-election campaign. Sarkozy appealed the decision.
GNA