Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy leaves the courthouse in Paris on Thursday. Photo by Yoan Valat/EPA
A Paris judge sentenced former French President Nicolas Sarkozy to five years in prison on Thursday on criminal conspiracy charges for accepting campaign funding from former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
The court acquitted him on the other charges he faced, including passive corruption and illegal campaign financing.
Even if Sarkozy appeals the ruling — which he says he plans to do — he could be sent to prison within a matter of days, BBC News reported. If so, he would be the first former French president to be incarcerated.
In addition to the prison time, Judge Nathalie Gavarino ordered Sarkozy to pay a fine of nearly $117,000 and issued an immediate five-year ban on him attending any public function, Euro News reported.
The prosecution said that during his time as president from 2007 to 2012, Sarkozy took millions in campaign financing from Gadhafi in exchange for an attempt to renew his reputation among Western leaders.
Gadhafi, who was killed in 2011 by rebels, was viewed negatively on the international stage for supporting terrorists and for his role in the bombings of Pan Am Flight 103 and UTA Flight 772 in 1988 and 1989, respectively.
Sarkozy said the case against him was politically motivated.
“What happened today … is of extreme gravity in regard to the rule of law and for the trust one can have in the justice system,” he said.
“It they absolutely want me to sleep in jail, I will sleep in jail, but with my ehead held high.”
A French court also found Sarkozy guilty in 2021 for exceeding a hard limit on political spending in his 2012 re-election campaign.
