Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s former president, appeared before the court on Monday to face allegations of accepting EUR 50 million in illegal campaign funds from the late Libya’s leader Muammar Gaddafi, according to French media.
The trial comes after years of investigation into claims that Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential campaign received illicit cash to secure his victory.
Sarkozy, 69, who has been convicted twice since leaving office, denies the charges and maintains they are part of a political conspiracy. He told his legal team he is ready to fight the accusations during the trial, which is expected to last until April 10. If convicted, Sarkozy could face up to 10 years in prison.
Prosecutors claimed Sarkozy struck a deal with Gaddafi during his tenure as France’s interior minister in 2005. They allege Gaddafi agreed to fund Sarkozy’s campaign in exchange for promises to rehabilitate Libya’s international image. This purported arrangement unfolded just as Western leaders, including Sarkozy, sought energy deals with the Libyan regime.
In 2012, the scandal erupted after the French investigative site “Mediapart” published a document on the campaign financing pact. Sarkozy dismissed the document as fake, maintaining that no funds from Libya ever entered his campaign accounts.
Sarkozy’s legal battles are not new. He recently lost an appeal against a one-year prison sentence for influence peddling, a punishment he will serve under house arrest with an electronic bracelet. The latest trial focuses on charges of concealing embezzled public funds and illegal campaign financing.
Twelve others, including Sarkozy’s former chief of staff Claude Guéant and ex-campaign financing head Eric Woerth, are also on trial. Guéant’s lawyer, Philippe Bouchez El Ghozi, claimed the accusations lack evidence, calling the case “a web of assertions and unproven hypotheses.”