France Ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy on trial in Libya affair
France's former president Nicolas Sarkozy will stand trial from Monday (1.30 pm) in the affair surrounding alleged election campaign funds from Libya. The Libya affair revolves around allegations that millions were illegally paid into Sarkozy's 2007 presidential election campaign by the regime of then Libyan ruler Muammar al-Gaddafi. The conservative, who was French president from 2007 to 2012, has always denied the allegations.
06.01.2025, 07:15
SDA
In addition to Sarkozy, twelve other defendants are on trial in Paris on charges of illegal campaign financing, embezzlement of public funds and bribery. The co-defendants include the former interior ministers Claude Guéant and Brice Hortefeux as well as the former labor minister and MP Éric Woerth.
Suitcase with millions of euros in the Ministry of the Interior?
The indictment is based, among other things, on information provided by the French-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine, who stated that at the end of 2006 or beginning of 2007 he had brought several suitcases - prepared by the Libyan regime - containing several million euros to the Paris Ministry of the Interior, which was headed by Sarkozy at the time. Sarkozy then accused him of lying. Takieddine's statements fluctuated several times in the course of the investigation and he is on the run after being convicted in another matter.
In return for the alleged payment of millions, Libya, which was ostracized at the time, is said to have been promised good deals with French companies and help in returning to the international stage. In fact, Muammar al-Gaddafi was received with military honors at the Élysée Palace in December 2007.
In addition, efforts to lift a French arrest warrant against Gaddafi's brother-in-law Abdallah Senoussi are said to have been promised. He was found guilty in absentia in Paris in 1999 as the main perpetrator of an attack on a French airliner in which 170 people died. The former ministers and co-defendants Guéant and Hortefeux are said to have met Senoussi in Libya in 2005 - according to French media reports, in order to arrange the millions in aid.
Sarkozy faces up to ten years in prison
If found guilty, Sarkozy faces up to ten years in prison and a heavy fine. Several of the co-defendants also face up to ten years in prison. The 40-day trial is scheduled to run until April 10. France submitted requests for mutual legal assistance to 21 countries, including Germany, for the extensive investigations into the Libya affair, which began in early 2013. The investigations fill 73 case files.
Sarkozy (69) has already been on trial for various affairs. In mid-December, the ex-president was finally found guilty in a case concerning the exertion of influence on the judiciary. Sarkozy was sentenced to serve a one-year prison sentence with an ankle bracelet at home for bribery and undue influence. The modalities will be determined in the coming weeks, but Sarkozy has not yet been given the ankle bracelet.
