French former PM Sarkozy goes on trial accused of receiving millions of euros in illegal funding from Gaddafi
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The former leader denies all the charges against him. France’s former president Nicolas Sarkozy is standing trial over allegations of having received millions of euros in illegal financing from Libya’s late leader Muammar Gaddafi for his successful 2007 presidential bid.
![[Sarkozy was one of the first western leaders to support military intervention against Gaddafi’s government in 2011]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/06/10/GettyImages-1366232771.jpg)
In arguably the largest of Sarkozy’s several scandals, the 69-year-old is charged with passive corruption, illegal campaign financing, concealment of embezzlement of public funds and criminal association. Investigators allege he made a corrupt pact with the Libyan government. At issue is a murky affair alleged to involve Libyan spies, a convicted terrorist, arms dealers and allegations Gaddafi provided Sarkozy's campaign with millions of euros shipped to Paris in suitcases.
![[Sarkozy and his lawyer arrive in a Paris courtroom for a 2020 court case]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/18/14/France_Sarkozy_64555.jpg)
Sarkozy's lawyer said the case against the former president was a fabrication and that there had been no Libyan financing of the campaign. "After 10 years of investigation, with an unprecedented deployment of resources, wiretaps, judges traveling abroad, all over the world, there is - obviously - no trace of financing, no transfer, no payment, not even an amount for the alleged financing," lawyer Christophe Ingrain said.
![[French President-elect Nicolas Sarkozy, left, talks to his political advisor Claude Gueant in May 2007]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/06/11/GettyImages-1253497135.jpg)
The former president, who served between 2007 and 2012, could face up to 10 years in prison. Sarkozy said nothing on his way into court, but has denied any wrongdoing. Known as the “Libyan case”, the trial involves 11 other defendants including three former ministers.
