Former French President Sarkozy Sentenced to Five Years in Jail for Criminal Conspiracy 

A Paris court on Thursday sentenced former French President Nicolas Sarkozy to five years in prison after finding him guilty of criminal conspiracy in a case centering on alleged illegal donations to his 2007 presidential campaign received from the late Libyan dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, Politico reported.  

The prosecution alleged Sarkozy had promised Gaddafi he would help him combat his state’s reputation as a pariah with Western countries in exchange for the funds, the BBC noted.  

The court cleared him of other charges, including passive corruption and illegal campaign financing, and said he allowed his close aides to reach out to Libyan officials in an effort to secure financial support for his campaign. 

The former president claims the case is politically motivated and, speaking to reporters after the hearing, said of the verdict, “This injustice is a scandal.” 

Sarkozy, 70, had expected to avoid jail time by appealing the ruling, which would have delayed sentencing until after the appeal trial.  

However, the presiding judge in the case, Nathalie Gavarino, ruled that the seriousness of the charges warranted his detention independent of any appeal. He was also ordered to pay a fine of about $117,000. Sarkozy, who served as president from 2007 to 2012, is likely to become the first modern French president to serve prison time. 

The case dates back to 2011, when Saif al-Islam, Gaddafi’s son, first said Sarkozy had received millions of his father’s money for his campaign between 2005 and 2007. The investigation began in 2013 and, a year later, Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine claimed to have written proof that Sarkozy’s campaign bid was “abundantly” financed by Libya, and that the $58 million worth of funding continued during his term. 

Nine of Sarkozy’s former close aides were also convicted, including Claude Guéan, his right-hand man, who was found guilty of passive corruption and falsification, and former minister Brice Hortefeux was found guilty of criminal conspiracy, Le Monde wrote. 

Overall, the ruling indicated that the court believed the men conspired to obtain Libyan funding for Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign, but that judges were not convinced the former conservative president himself was directly involved or that any Libyan funds were actually used in his successful campaign. 

Still, according to French law, a corrupt scheme can be a crime – even if no funds were exchanged or their use cannot be proven, the court said. 

After losing his re-election bid in 2012, Sarkozy has faced multiple criminal investigations. In 2021, he was found guilty of attempting to bribe a judge in an incident dating back to 2014, becoming the first former French president to get a custodial sentence. In February 2024, he was convicted of overspending on his 2012 reelection campaign and then hiring a public relations firm to cover it up.