Paris : A court in Paris on Thursday found former French President Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of criminal conspiracy. He faced trial for allegedly accepting illegal campaign financing from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to secure victory in the 2007 election.
The court acquitted Sarkozy of passive corruption, embezzlement of Libyan public funds, and illegal election campaign financing. It clarified that the criminal conspiracy charges relate to his involvement in a group that orchestrated a corruption offense from 2005 to 2007, Euro News reported.
The court is still detailing its ruling and has not immediately sentenced Sarkozy, who served as France’s President between 2007 and 2012. He can file an appeal against the ruling, which would suspend any sentence pending the outcome.
The Paris court’s decision makes Sarkozy, 70, the first French President convicted of such a high-level criminal offense. Prosecutors argued that Sarkozy funneled millions from Gaddafi’s government into his campaign coffers, an accusation he denied throughout the three-month trial. Eleven co-defendants, including three former ministers, have also faced charges.
Earlier in January, Sarkozy told the court, “You will never find one Libyan euro, one Libyan cent in my campaign.” He added that “groups of liars and crooks,” including the “Gaddafi clan,” made false allegations as part of a “plot.”
Sarkozy noted, “Revelations from Libya about the alleged financing of my campaign came hours after my statement that ‘Gaddafi must go.’ What credibility can we give to statements marked by vengeance?” Euro News reported his statement.
The case emerged in 2011 when a Libyan news agency claimed Gaddafi’s government had funded Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign. Sarkozy had pushed for military intervention in Libya the same year, during pro-democracy protests. Opposition fighters killed Gaddafi in October 2011, ending his 40-year authoritarian rule.
–IANS
