Former French President Sarkozy Faces Trial Over Alleged Campaign Funding from Gaddafi

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy will go on trial on Monday over allegations of receiving millions of euros in illegal campaign funding from the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. This trial is the biggest political financing scandal in modern French history. This scandal involved Sarkozy and 12 others, including three former ministers.

The court will examine claims of a “corruption pact” between Sarkozy and the Libyan regime after a decade-long anti-corruption investigation. Investigative magistrates allege that intermediaries delivered suitcases of cash to Paris ministry buildings to fund Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential campaign.

The court will investigate whether the Libyan regime sought diplomatic, legal, and business favors in return for funding Sarkozy’s campaign. They allegedly requested France to lift the international arrest warrant against Gaddafi’s spy chief, Abdullah al-Senussi, who was convicted in absentia for the 1989 UTA passenger plane bombing over Niger, which killed 170 people.

Victims’ Families Shocked

Lawyer Laure Heinich is representing the families of UTA bombing victims. She expressed their shock at the alleged corruption and said her clients would tell the court of their shock to hear that “the arrest of the person who killed their family members” could be “exchanged for money”. She stated that the money used in Sarkozy’s campaign was “sullied by these families’ blood.”

Sarkozy’s Denial

Sarkozy was president from 2007 to 2012 has denied all wrongdoing. The court will explore Sarkozy’s complex relationship with Gaddafi, who committed human rights abuses and had terrorism connections, including the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

Sarkozy invited Gaddafi for a state visit to Paris in 2007, marking the first Western leader to do so since the 1980s. However, in 2011, Sarkozy led NATO airstrikes against Gaddafi’s regime, which ultimately led to Gaddafi’s capture and death.

Potential Sentences to Sarkozy

Sarkozy could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted alongside former Élysée secretary general Claude Guéant and close ally Brice Hortefeux. All deny wrongdoing. Also on trial is Sarkozy’s former budget minister Éric Woerth, now an MP for Emmanuel Macron’s party.

Sarkozy already has two court convictions. France’s highest court recently upheld a verdict for corruption and influence peddling, requiring him to wear an electronic tag for a year. He is appealing this ruling at the European Court of Human Rights. Additionally, the court convicted Sarkozy of hiding illegal overspending in the 2012 presidential election, and he has appealed the decision.