September 25, (THEWILL) — A Paris court, on Thursday, sentenced former French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, to five years imprisonment along with a €100,000 fine, for accepting illegal campaign funds from late Libyan strongman, Muammar Gaddafi.
The court found Sarkozy guilty of criminal association in a scheme from 2005 to 2007 to finance his campaign with funds from Libya in exchange for diplomatic favours. But it cleared him of three other charges, including passive corruption, illegal campaign financing and concealment of the embezzlement of public funds.
Prosecutors alleged that he made a deal with Gaddafi in 2005, when he was France’s interior minister, to obtain campaign financing in exchange for supporting the then-isolated Libyan government on the international stage.
The investigation was opened in 2013, two years after Saif al-Islam, son of the then-Libyan leader, first accused Sarkozy of taking millions of his father’s money for campaign funding.
Also, in 2014, Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine said he had written proof that Sarkozy’s campaign bid was “abundantly” financed by Tripoli, and that the €50m (£43m) worth of payments continued after he became president.
Among the others accused in the trial were former interior ministers Claude Gueant and Brice Hortefeux. The court found Gueant guilty of corruption, among other charges, and Hortefeux was found guilty of criminal conspiracy.
Judge Nathalie Gavarino said Sarkozy had allowed close aides to contact Libyan officials with a view to obtaining financial support for his campaign.
The ruling is the latest in a string of legal hurdles for the right-wing ex-leader, 70, who denied the charges.
Sarkozy, president of France between 2007 and 2012, was earlier convicted in two separate cases and stripped of France’s highest honour.
Speaking outside the court, Sarkozy said he was innocent and would appeal the ruling. He called the verdict “extremely serious for the rule of law”, insisting that the case is politically motivated,
“What happened today… is of extreme gravity in regard to the rule of law, and for the trust one can have in the justice system. If they absolutely want me to sleep in jail, I will sleep in jail, but with my head held high”, he said.
The sentence means that he will be imprisoned whether he launches an appeal or not.
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