Former French president Sarkozy sentenced to five years in jail UPDATED

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of criminal conspiracy related to illicit funds received from the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The Paris criminal court cleared Sarkozy of other charges, including passive corruption and illegal campaign financing, BBC writes. 

Sarkozy was accused of using millions of euros from Gaddafi to finance his 2007 presidential campaign. Prosecutors alleged that in return, Sarkozy promised to help improve Gaddafi’s international reputation, which had suffered due to his pariah status in the West.

Judge Nathalie Gavarino stated that Sarkozy allowed close aides to contact Libyan officials to seek financial support for his campaign. However, the court found insufficient evidence to prove that Sarkozy personally benefited from illegal campaign funding.

Despite the acquittals on other charges, Sarkozy was sentenced to five years in prison, with at least two years to be served behind bars. The ruling means he will have to begin serving his sentence even if he appeals. Additionally, he was ordered to pay a fine of 100,000 euros.

Sarkozy could be taken into custody in Paris within days, marking a historic moment as the first former French president to face jail time—a major blow for the ex-leader who has steadfastly maintained his innocence throughout this and other ongoing legal cases.

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Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been found guilty of criminal conspiracy in a long-running case over allegations that he accepted illegal campaign funding from the regime of late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi for his 2007 presidential bid.

A Paris court delivered the verdict on Septemebr 25, convicting Sarkozy of conspiracy but acquitting him of three other charges: corruption, misuse of Libyan public funds, and illegal campaign financing. Sentencing has not yet been announced, and Sarkozy, who denies all wrongdoing, is expected to appeal, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media. 

Prosecutors alleged that Sarkozy and his aides formed a “corruption pact” with Gaddafi’s regime as early as 2005, agreeing to political and diplomatic favours in exchange for financial support. The court heard that members of Sarkozy's team met Libyan officials before his election victory and that Gaddafi was later welcomed on a state visit to France in 2007.

The case is considered the most serious of several legal battles facing Sarkozy, who served as president from 2007 to 2012. He has already been convicted in two separate cases: one for corruption and influence peddling involving a judge, and another for illegal overspending in his failed 2012 re-election campaign.

Also convicted on September 25 were Sarkozy’s former aides Claude Guéant and Brice Hortefeux, both found guilty of criminal conspiracy, with Guéant also convicted of corruption. Another key figure, Éric Woerth, was acquitted.

The verdict came just two days after the sudden death of Ziad Takieddine, the businessman who had previously claimed to have delivered cash from Gaddafi to Sarkozy’s team. Takieddine had since retracted and then reversed that retraction, leading to a separate investigation into alleged witness tampering. Sarkozy, his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, and others remain under investigation in that case.

By Sabina Mammadli