France's former President Nicolas Sarkozy is standing trial on allegations of receiving illegal campaign funding from the late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi during his 2007 presidential campaign, reports AP.
Known as the "Libyan case," this trial is the most high-profile scandal involving Sarkozy, and it is scheduled to run until April 10, with a verdict to follow later.
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Sarkozy, now 69, faces charges of passive corruption, illegal campaign financing, concealment of embezzled public funds, and criminal association—offences carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The former president, who served from 2007 to 2012, denies any wrongdoing, it said.
The trial includes 11 other defendants, among them three former ministers. Notably, Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine, accused of acting as an intermediary, has fled to Lebanon and is not expected to attend the proceedings in Paris. Sarkozy’s lawyer, Christophe Ingrain, expressed confidence in a statement, asserting that there was no Libyan financing of the campaign and urging the court to examine the facts objectively, the report added.
Gadhafi’s Alleged Agreement
The case originated in March 2011 when a Libyan news agency claimed that Gadhafi’s government had funded Sarkozy’s campaign. Gadhafi himself publicly stated, “It’s thanks to us that he reached the presidency,” though he provided no specifics. Despite Sarkozy’s initial welcome of Gadhafi to Paris in 2007, the French leader later became a strong proponent of military intervention in Libya during the Arab Spring in 2011, culminating in Gadhafi’s death in October that year.
In 2012, the French news site Mediapart published a purported Libyan secret service document suggesting Gadhafi had approved €50 million in campaign funding for Sarkozy. While Sarkozy dismissed the document as a forgery, French investigative magistrates later deemed it authentic in nature, though conclusive evidence of the alleged transaction remains absent. Official records show Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign cost €20 million, the report also said.
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Witness Tampering Allegations
French investigators delved into numerous trips to Libya made by Sarkozy’s associates, including his then-chief of staff Claude Guéant, between 2005 and 2007. They also examined frequent meetings between Guéant and Takieddine. In 2016, Takieddine claimed to have delivered suitcases containing millions in cash from Libya to the French Interior Ministry, though he retracted this statement in 2020.
A separate investigation into alleged witness tampering followed, with prosecutors suspecting efforts to pressure Takieddine into clearing Sarkozy. Both Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, faced preliminary charges for allegedly influencing Takieddine.
Additional Defendants
The trial also involves high-profile figures, including three former French ministers, Sarkozy’s adviser, Franco-Algerian businessman Alexandre Djouhri, and Gadhafi’s former chief of staff Bashir Saleh. Saleh, who survived a shooting in 2018 and now resides in the UAE, was previously a key figure in Libya’s financial dealings. Other defendants include Saudi billionaires, a former Airbus executive, and a banker accused of facilitating the alleged money transfers.
Shukri Ghanem, Gadhafi’s former oil minister, who reportedly documented payments to Sarkozy in a notebook, was found dead under unclear circumstances in the Danube River in 2012. Additionally, Gadhafi’s spy chief, Abdullah al-Senoussi, now imprisoned in Libya, has corroborated claims that millions were funneled into Sarkozy’s campaign.
Sarkozy’s Past Convictions
This trial follows two prior convictions for Sarkozy. In 2023, France’s highest court upheld his conviction for corruption and influence peddling during his presidency, resulting in a one-year house arrest sentence with an electronic bracelet. In 2022, an appeals court found him guilty of illegal campaign financing for his failed 2012 reelection bid.
The Libyan case, however, is widely regarded as the most damaging to Sarkozy’s legacy, given its international implications and the gravity of the accusations.