Foto AFP / Nicolas Sarkozy
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced to five years in prison on Thursday after being found guilty of criminal conspiracy linked to millions of euros from illicit funds provided by the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The ruling, which includes a fine of 100,000 euros (around 117,000 dollars), is unprecedented in France: a former leader could be incarcerated in the coming days. According to the BBC.
The Paris criminal court acquitted him of other charges, including passive corruption and illegal campaign financing. Nonetheless, Judge Nathalie Gavarino stated that Sarkozy allowed his advisors to contact Libyan officials to secure financial support for the 2007 electoral campaign in which he was elected. The prosecution argued that, in exchange for these resources, Sarkozy promised to help Gaddafi enhance his international standing.
In his first comments after the hearing, Sarkozy described the ruling as “extremely serious for the rule of law” and announced that he would appeal the decision. “If they want me to sleep in jail, I will sleep in jail, but with my head held high,” he asserted outside the courthouse.
The investigation began in 2013, two years after Saif al-Islam, son of the then Libyan leader, publicly accused Sarkozy of receiving millions of euros from Tripoli to finance his campaign. A year later, Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine claimed to have documentary evidence that Sarkozy’s campaign was abundantly financed by the Gaddafi regime, with transfers amounting to as much as 50 million euros.
During the trial, former collaborators of Sarkozy were also prosecuted. Former Interior Minister Claude Guéant was found guilty of corruption and other charges, while Brice Hortefeux, another ex-minister, was convicted of criminal conspiracy.
The case even involves Sarkozy’s wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, who was accused last year of concealing evidence related to the scheme and of associating with criminals to commit fraud, charges she has denied.
The conviction adds to a series of legal proceedings that have dogged Sarkozy since he left office in 2012. In February 2024, he was sentenced to one year in prison — six months suspended — for exceeding the authorized spending limit in his reelection campaign and attempting to cover it up with a public relations agency. In 2021, he was found guilty of attempting to bribe a judge in 2014, becoming the first former French president to receive a prison sentence. In that case, a court allowed him to serve his sentence at home with an electronic bracelet.
The Gaddafi case verdict represents a particularly harsh blow for Sarkozy, who has always maintained his innocence and argues that the accusations are politically motivated.