Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy appeared in a Paris court on Monday as he faces charges of accepting illegal campaign financing from the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The trial, which opened less than two weeks after Sarkozy lost an appeal against a separate conviction for influence peddling, marks the latest chapter in the legal battles that have shadowed the 69-year-old since his 2012 election defeat.
Sarkozy, who has denied the allegations, faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of charges related to concealing the embezzlement of public funds and illegal campaign financing. His defense team, led by lawyer Christophe Ingrain, vowed to challenge the prosecution’s case. “There was no Libyan financing,” Ingrain stated.
The trial, expected to run until April 10, includes 12 defendants, among them Sarkozy’s former aides. They are accused of orchestrating a scheme with Gaddafi to fund Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential campaign in exchange for promises to rehabilitate Libya’s international image. Sarkozy has repeatedly dismissed the accusations as a politically motivated conspiracy.
The prosecution’s case is built on evidence that includes statements from former Libyan officials, financial transfers, and entries in the notebooks of Shukri Ghanem, Libya’s former oil minister, who was found dead in the Danube River in 2012. Trips by Sarkozy’s close allies to Libya and allegations from Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine, who claimed to have delivered cash from Gaddafi, are also central to the case.
Takieddine later retracted his statements in 2020, fueling speculation that he may have been coerced. Sarkozy himself faces a separate charge of illegal witness tampering in connection with Takieddine’s retraction, while his wife, Carla Bruni, was accused last year of concealing evidence.
The case stems from allegations first made public in 2012 when the investigative website Mediapart published a document purportedly showing an agreement between Libyan officials and Sarkozy’s campaign team. Sarkozy has consistently maintained the document was fabricated.
Sarkozy’s political legacy has been deeply affected by his legal troubles. In addition to this trial, he is under investigation in two other cases and recently began serving a one-year sentence for influence peddling under house arrest with an electronic tag. Despite his legal woes, Sarkozy remains an influential figure in French politics and maintains ties with current President Emmanuel Macron.
The trial comes against the backdrop of broader allegations involving Gaddafi’s regime, which has been implicated in terrorist acts such as the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland. Prosecutors contend that Gaddafi’s financial support for Sarkozy’s campaign was part of a broader strategy to gain Western favor, a relationship that unraveled in 2011 when France backed military action that led to Gaddafi’s overthrow and death.
As the trial unfolds, Sarkozy’s reputation and political future hang in the balance, marking another critical moment in the legacy of France’s controversial former leader.
