Nicolas Sarkozy Sentenced to Five Years in Prison Over Libyan Funds Scandal.

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to five years in prison after a Paris court found him guilty of criminal conspiracy in a scheme to finance his 2007 campaign with funds from Libya.

The Paris court ruled Thursday that the French right-wing politician is guilty of raising illegal funds from Libya in exchange for diplomatic, legal, and business favors. 

It said the manner in which Sarkozy sought to raise campaign funds was “capable of undermining the citizens’ trust in public institutions,” adding that before winning in 2007 he used his position as interior minister to prepare an act of corruption at the highest level.

According to Head Judge Nathalie Gavarino, Sarkozy allowed his associates to reach out to Libyan authorities “to obtain or try to obtain financial support in Libya,” estimated at roughly $51.6 million.

The judge added that even though the court couldn’t determine with certainty that Libyan money ended up financing Sarkozy’s campaign, a corrupt scheme can still be a crime even if money wasn’t paid or cannot be proven.

He will be incarcerated despite his intention to appeal. The date of his imprisonment would be decided later to spare him from being led from the packed courtroom in handcuffs in a bid to prevent the French image from being dented.

Sarkozy denounced the ruling as a “scandal,” saying his efforts to raise campaign money was simply “an idea of illegal financing” for his campaign.

During his tenure as French president, he reportedly called two of his ministers, Claude Guéant and Brice Hortefeux, to take charge of the plot. The named officials were found guilty of criminal association by the same court.

The roots of the case go back to 2011, when Libyan outlets said the Libyan state had secretly funneled millions of euros into Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign.

His close allies also reportedly travelled to Libya back and forth when he served as interior minister from 2005 to 2007, including his chief of staff.

A separate investigation on witness tampering is now focused on the death of Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine. The businessman, who in 2016 said that he had delivered suitcases filled with cash from Tripoli to the French Interior Ministry under Sarkozy, died on Tuesday in Beirut.

Sarkozy was convicted last year of illegal campaign financing in his failed 2012 reelection bid. He was accused of having spent almost twice the maximum legal amount and was sentenced to a year in prison, of which six months were suspended.

The 70-year-old French politician, who remains an influential figure in right-wing politics in France and in entertainment circles, was also found guilty in 2021 by a Paris court for trying to bribe a magistrate in 2014 in exchange for information about a legal case in which he was implicated.