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Rabat – Nicolas Sarkozy, who served as France’s president from 2007 to 2012, is standing trial today over allegations that his 2007 presidential campaign was illegally funded by Libya’s late leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Sarkozy is facing charges of corruption, illegal campaign financing, concealing embezzlement, and criminal association. If found guilty, he could face up to 10 years in prison. Sarkozy has denied all accusations and called them baseless.
His lawyer, Christophe Ingrain, said that Sarkozy is “awaiting these four months of hearings with determination. He will fight the artificial construction dreamed up by the prosecution. There was no Libyan financing of the campaign.”
The case first emerged in 2011, when a Libyan news agency claimed that Gaddafi’s government had financed Sarkozy’s campaign. Gaddafi himself later stated that “It’s thanks to us that he [Sarkozy] reached the presidency.”
In 2012, a French news site published a document allegedly from Libya’s secret services, indicating that Gaddafi had agreed to provide €50 million for Sarkozy’s campaign.
Sarkozy dismissed the document as a fake and filed complaints. However, in 2016 French authorities stated the document appeared authentic.
French investigators have examined trips to Libya made by Sarkozy’s associates and meetings between his aides and Ziad Takieddine, a businessman accused of delivering cash from Libya. Takieddine initially claimed to have transported cash in suitcases but reversed his statement in 2020.
The trial is scheduled to run until April 10 and it involves 11 other defendants, including former ministers and businessman accused of playing roles in the alleged scheme. Some key figures, like Takieddine and other intermediaries, are not expected to appear in court.
Sarkozy’s wife Carla Bruni is also facing preliminary charges in a related case, which accuses the couple of trying to influence witnesses.
