A Paris court on September 25, sentenced former French President Nicolas Sarkozy to five years in prison after finding him guilty of criminal conspiracy related to alleged funding from Libya during his successful 2007 presidential campaign.
The case centers on accusations that Sarkozy, while he was interior minister and later presidential candidate, struck a covert “corruption pact” with Muammar Gaddafi’s Libyan regime to receive money in exchange for diplomatic and political favours. Prosecutors claim that between 2005 and 2007, financial support from Tripoli—allegedly millions of euros—was arranged via intermediaries.
While the court acquitted Sarkozy of several related charges—namely passive corruption, illegal campaign financing, and concealment of embezzled public funds—it held that he was involved in criminal association. The distinction meant that, even though prosecutors did not establish beyond doubt all the alleged illegal financial flows or misuse of funds, there was sufficient evidence to convict him for organizing or benefiting from an illicit scheme.
Remarkably, the court ordered that the prison sentence begins even if Sarkozy appeals. However, the precise date for when he will report to prison remains to be set. Among others convicted in the case are Claude Guéant and Brice Hortefeux, two of Sarkozy’s close aides, who were found complicit in the conspiracy.
Sarkozy has sharply rejected the verdict, calling it unjust and politically motivated. He is expected to appeal. This is the most significant verdict yet in the long-running “Libya financing” saga—an affair that has dogged Sarkozy for over a decade—and marks the first time a former French head of state has been handed a firm prison sentence in such a foreign-funding corruption case.
