A Paris court on Thursday handed former French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, a five-year prison sentence after finding him guilty of criminal conspiracy over an alleged plot to finance his 2007 campaign using funds from Libya.
The landmark decision makes Sarkozy the first former president of modern France to receive a prison term.
In a notable twist, the court ruled that the 70-year-old will serve time despite his intention to appeal, though the exact start date of his imprisonment will be decided later, sparing him the public spectacle of being led out in handcuffs.
Sarkozy was convicted of criminal association in a scheme spanning 2005 to 2007 to secure Libyan funding for his successful campaign in exchange for diplomatic favors.
He was acquitted of three other charges, including passive corruption, illegal campaign financing, and concealing the embezzlement of public funds.
Reacting to the ruling, Sarkozy stated, “If they absolutely want me to sleep in prison, I will sleep in prison. But with my head held high. I am innocent. This injustice is a scandal.”
Standing beside his wife, singer and model Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, he added, “I ask the French people, whether they voted for me or not, whether they support me or not, to grasp what has just happened. Hatred truly knows no bounds.”
The court described Sarkozy’s conduct as “exceptionally serious,” noting that his involvement in attempting to raise campaign funds from Libya was “capable of undermining the citizen’s trust in public institutions.”
“The goal of the criminal conspiracy was to give you an advantage in the electoral campaign,” the judges ruled.
Sarkozy, who previously served as interior minister before his 2007 election win, was found to have used his position “to prepare an act of corruption at the highest level.”
He dismissed the accusations, saying, “I am being convicted for supposedly allowing two of my staff members to go ahead with the idea, the idea, of illegal financing for my campaign.”
The court also found two of Sarkozy’s closest presidential aides, former ministers Claude Guéant and Brice Hortefeux, guilty of criminal association, though they were acquitted of other charges.
The verdict revealed that Sarkozy allowed his aides to approach Libyan authorities “to obtain or try to obtain financial support in Libya.”
However, the court acknowledged it could not definitively prove that Libyan funds actually financed his campaign, noting that under French law, a corrupt scheme constitutes a crime even if money was not received.
Sarkozy, defeated in his 2012 reelection bid, denied wrongdoing throughout a three-month trial that involved 11 co-defendants, including three former ministers.
Despite past legal controversies, he remains influential in French right-wing politics and retains public visibility due to his marriage to Bruni-Sarkozy.
Alleged Libya Financing
The case traces back to 2011 when Libyan sources and former dictator Moammar Gadhafi claimed Libya had secretly funded Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign. In 2012, Mediapart, a French investigative outlet, published a purported Libyan intelligence memo citing a €50 million agreement.
Sarkozy labeled the document a forgery and sued for defamation. Thursday’s court ruling stated it “now appears most likely that this document is a forgery.”
Investigators also examined trips to Libya made by Sarkozy’s associates between 2005 and 2007, including his chief of staff.
In 2016, businessman Ziad Takieddine claimed to Mediapart that he delivered cash-filled suitcases from Tripoli to the French Interior Ministry under Sarkozy, though he later retracted the statement.
That retraction is now under investigation for potential witness tampering, with both Sarkozy and his wife receiving preliminary charges for allegedly pressuring Takieddine.
This case has yet to go to trial. Takieddine, 75, and a co-defendant, died in Beirut on Tuesday after fleeing Lebanon in 2020.
Prosecutors contended that Sarkozy knowingly benefited from a “corruption pact” with Gadhafi’s regime, which ended in 2011 with the dictator’s death.
Sarkozy Denounces ‘Plot’
During the trial, Sarkozy described the allegations as politically motivated, relying on forged evidence. He called the proceedings a “plot” orchestrated by “liars and crooks” including the “Gadhafi clan,” suggesting the charges were retaliation for his support of military intervention against Gadhafi during the 2011 Arab Spring.
“What credibility can be given to such statements marked by the seal of vengeance?” he asked.
Stripped of Legion of Honour
In June, Sarkozy was stripped of the Legion of Honor, France’s highest award, following a conviction in a separate corruption case.
Previously, he was found guilty of corruption and influence peddling for attempting to bribe a magistrate in 2014. He served one year with an electronic monitoring bracelet but was released early due to his age.
Sarkozy was also convicted last year of illegal financing in his 2012 reelection campaign, exceeding spending limits, and received a one-year sentence with six months suspended.
He has appealed that verdict to France’s highest court, the Court of Cassation, which is still pending.
