Proof that Libyan money made Sarkozy president

The former French president Nicolas Sarkozy (70) is in a tight spot.

On 6 January, the trial against Sarkozy began. He won the French presidential elections in 2007, but now it appears in court that Sarkozy had his campaign financed with money from the Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi. According to the prosecution, this would have endangered the sovereignty of France. Sarkozy himself maintains his innocence, but the evidence against the former president is strong. He risks ten years in prison and a fine of 375,000 euros, as well as the loss of his civil rights for up to five years.

The French prosecution explicitly labels the former president as the “real instigator” of a “improper” corruption pact. Financial prosecutor Quentin Dandoy asks for Sarkozy and his two associates, who travelled to Libya themselves to set up the deal in the name of Sarkozy, to be convicted of corruption and membership of a criminal organisation.

(FVDV - Source: Belga - Illustration: ©Unsplash)