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Rabat- The former French president has been taken into police custody for investigations over alleged Libyan donations that funded his 2007 campaign for the French presidency, reports French news agency AFP.
Sarkozy was questioned earlier today for allegedly receiving EUR 50 million from late former Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, to finance his election bid in 2007. The alleged sum violates French rules against foreign funding, as the legal campaign financing limit was EUR 21 million at the time.
The former president, however, denied the claims, dismissing the allegations as “grotesque.”
In 2016, French-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine claimed that Sarkozy received millions of euros to finance his 2007 campaign, reported The Guardian. The businessman told news source Mediapart, “I have discovered things that should no longer be hidden. I wish to denounce the mafia state in which we are currently living.”
The allegations are not new. The claims first emerged in 2013, when the French court opened an investigation on the alleged illegal financing of Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign in 2007.
Sarkozy has categorically denied the accusations. Though Sarkozy is not yet charged, his investigation can last up to 48 hours.
