PARIS (AP) — A Paris court is set to rule a verdict on Thursday over the alleged illegal funding of the 2007 presidential election by the government of then Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
If convicted, Sarkozy, 70, will become the first French president to be convicted of accepting illegal foreign funds and acquiring an office.
Sarcozy was elected in 2007 but lost his bid for reelection in 2012. Denied all wrongdoing Eleven co-defendants, including three former ministers, were also involved in the three-month trial earlier this year.
in spite of Multiple legal scandals Sarkozy, who clouded his presidential legacy, remains an influential figure in the right-wing politics of France and the entertainment circle, thanks to his marriage to singer and model Cara Bruni Sarkozy.
Sarkozy can appeal a conviction. This would suspend the statement as the appeal is pending. Prosecutors advocate for seven years in prison.
Libya’s fundraising suspicions
The accusations trace the roots of Libyan news agency and Gadafi himself to 2011, when Libyan state secretly poured millions of euros into Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign.
In 2012, the French research outlet Mediapart announced that it was a Libyan intelligence news memo referring to the 50 million euro funding agreement. Sarkozy accused the document of forgery and sued for defamation.
The French magistrate later said the memo appears to be authentic, but no conclusive evidence of the transaction was presented at the three-month Paris trial.
Investigators also looked into a series of trips to Libya, made by people close to Sarkozy, when he served as Minister of Home Affairs in 2005 and 2007, including the Chief of Staff in 2005 and 2007.
In 2016, Franco Lebanese businessman Ziad Takiedane told Mediapart that he had delivered a cash-filled suitcase from Tripoli to the French Ministry of Home Affairs under Sarkozy. He later retracted his statement.
That reversal is the focus of another investigation into eyewitness tampering. both Sarkozy and his wife, Cara Bruni Sarkozy, received preliminary charges Because of involvement in doubting efforts to put pressure on Takiedozin. The case has not yet been brought to court.
Tachyedine, one of the co-defendants, died in Beirut on Tuesday, his lawyer, Elise Alfie, said. He was 75 years old. He fled to Lebanon in 2020 and did not attend trial.
Sarkozy was brought to trial on charges of passive corruption, financing illegal campaigns, covering up public funds and criminal association charges. Prosecutors argued that Sarkozy deliberately benefited from what he called a “corruption agreement” with the Gadaffi government.
The longtime Libyan dictator fell and killed in the 2011 uprising, ending the four-year rule of the North African country.
Sarkozy criticized the “plot”
trial Shedding light on French back channel lectures In the 2000s, along with Libya, Gadafi was trying to restore diplomatic relations with the West. Prior to that, Libya was considered a Paria province.
Sarkozy has rejected the allegations that it relied on politically motivated and forged evidence. During the trial, he accused the “conspiracy” that he said was staged by “liars and con artists”, including the “Gadafi clan.”
He suggested that the campaign funding allegations were retaliation for his call as president of France.
Sarkozy was one of the first Western leaders to promote military intervention in Libya in 2011, when the Arab Spring democratic protests wiped out the Arab world.
“What credibility can we give such a statement, characterized by the sign of vengeance?” Sarkozy asked in the comments during the trial.
Legion’s honor has been stripped
In June, Sarkozy was stripped of his massive Medal of Honor, France’s highest award, after being convicted in another case.
Previously, he had been pleaded guilty to corruption and had an impact on peddlers by attempting to bribe the magistrate in 2014 in exchange for information about the legal case he was involved in.
Sarkozy was declared to wear an electronic surveillance bracelet for a year. He was allowed to release a conditional release in May due to his age, so he was able to remove the electronic tag after wearing it for just three months.
In another case, Sarkozy was convicted last year of 2012’s failed reelection, financing an illegal campaign. He was accused of spending almost twice the maximum legal amount and sentenced to a year in prison, of which six months were suspended.
Sarkozy denied the allegation. He has appealed the verdict to the highest Cassion Court, and the appeal is pending.
