Paris – Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is set to begin a five-year prison sentence for criminal conspiracy related to securing illicit funding from Libya during his 2007 presidential campaign. The conviction, handed down by lead judge Nathalie Gavarino, was justified as a case of “remarkable gravity” likely to “undermine citizens’ trust.”
Prosecutors alleged Sarkozy entered into a “Faustian pact of corruption with one of the most unspeakable dictators of the last 30 years,” referring to Muammar Gaddafi, to obtain election funding. While acquitted of three seperate charges – corruption, misuse of Libyan public funds, and illegal election campaign funding – Sarkozy was found guilty of the central conspiracy charge and has already filed an appeal.
Despite the appeal, French law requires Sarkozy to serve his sentence while the legal process unfolds. His lawyers intend to “formally ask for his release” upon his arrival at prison, with a court having two months to decide whether to grant release under judicial supervision, home arrest with an electronic tag, or maintain his imprisonment to prevent potential evidence tampering or witness intimidation.
This marks the latest legal trouble for the former president, who previously became the first former French head of state to be fitted with an electronic tag following a 2021 conviction for corruption and influence peddling.He served three months under house arrest with an ankle monitor in that case. Sarkozy has also been stripped of France‘s highest distinction, the Legion of Honour, following prior convictions.
the verdict in the Libyan funding case prompted death threats against the presiding judge, prompting President Emmanuel Macron to condemn the attacks as “unacceptable.”
