Nicolas Sarkozy goes on trial over alleged Gaddafi election funding

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has gone on trial in Paris, accused of extorting millions of euros from the late Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi to support his 2007 election campaign.

Instead, the critic says Sarkozy promised to help Gaddafi overcome his reputation as a Western country.

Sarkozy, 69, was the President of France from 2007 to 2012.

He has been denying the charges, saying they were brought by people who want to bring him down.

The investigation was opened in 2013, two years after Saif al-Islam, the son of the Libyan leader at the time, accused Sarkozy of taking millions of his father’s money to fund his campaign.

A year later, Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine – who has long acted as a middle man between France and the Middle East – said he had written evidence that Sarkozy’s campaign was “paid for” by Tripoli, and that €50m (£43m). ) The salary continued after he became president.

A dozen other people – accused of coordinating with Gaddafi – are on trial alongside Sarkozy. Both deny the charges.

Sarkozy’s wife, Italian-born veteran and singer Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, was. was charged last year with concealing evidence related to the Gaddafi case and colluding with evildoers to commit fraud, and he refuses.

Since he lost his election in 2012, Sarkozy has been under investigation for many crimes.

He also appealed the February 2024 decision that found him guilty of overspending on his 2012 re-election campaignthen hire a PR firm to cover it up. He was given a one-year sentence, with six months suspended.

In 2021, he was found guilty of attempting to bribe a judge in 2014 and became the first French president to be sentenced to death. In December, an appeals court in Paris ruled that he could he serves his time at home wearing a tag instead of going to jail.

Sarkozy did not wear the sign when he arrived at a Paris court on Monday morning.

However, that is because the details of the sentence have not yet been revealed.

It seems that within three months of the trial on the so-called Libyan connection, the former president will be seen wearing this device.

The case will continue till April 10. If found guilty, Sarkozy faces up to 10 years in prison.