Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has strongly rejected claims of receiving funds from Muammar Gaddafi’s Libyan government. The accusations, central to his trial in Paris, allege illegal financing of his 2007 presidential campaign under Gaddafi’s rule.
Sarkozy faces charges of passive corruption, illegal campaign financing, embezzlement concealment, and criminal association. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison.
Speaking at the trial, Sarkozy declared, “You will never find one Libyan euro, one Libyan cent in my campaign.” He accused “groups of liars and crooks,” including Gaddafi allies, of orchestrating a “plot” to tarnish his name. The trial is scheduled to continue until 10 April.
Origins of the Allegations
The case surfaced in March 2011 when a Libyan news agency reported Gaddafi’s alleged financial support for Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign. Sarkozy, who had called for military intervention in Libya during the Arab Spring, pointed out the timing of the allegations. “The claims emerged hours after I stated, ‘Gaddafi must go,’” Sarkozy told the court, questioning their credibility as motivated by vengeance.
He also disputed a Libyan intelligence document citing Gaddafi’s agreement to provide €50 million in campaign financing. Although French investigators in 2016 deemed the document likely authentic, definitive proof of such a transaction remains absent. “There is no corruption money because there was no corruption,” Sarkozy emphasized, appealing to the court’s sense of justice.
Investigators also scrutinized trips made by Sarkozy’s close associates to Libya between 2005 and 2007, during his tenure as interior minister. Sarkozy highlighted his negotiation success in 2007, shortly after taking office, to secure the release of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor held in Libya. France and Libya subsequently signed agreements covering defence, health, and counterterrorism cooperation.
Trial Developments and Sarkozy’s Legal Challenges
The trial involves 11 other defendants, including former ministers and Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine, accused of mediating the alleged transactions. Takieddine fled to Lebanon and did not attend the trial. Gaddafi’s former chief of staff Bashir Saleh, another co-defendant, is also absent, having relocated to the UAE after living in France and South Africa.
Sarkozy has already faced convictions in two other cases. France’s highest court upheld his corruption and influence-peddling conviction last month, sentencing him to one year of house arrest with an electronic bracelet. The case arose from wiretapped phone conversations during the Libya investigation.
Additionally, Sarkozy was found guilty in February last year of illegal campaign financing in his unsuccessful 2012 re-election bid. The Libya trial is widely regarded as the most serious threat to his political legacy, given its potential to overshadow his tenure as president.