Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced to three years in prison for conspiracy, though acquitted of other charges.
Conviction for criminal conspiracy
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced to three years in prison on September 25 for his role in a criminal conspiracy, Reuters reported. The court found that Sarkozy allowed close associates to contact individuals in Libya to secure funding for his 2012 election campaign. However, he was acquitted of all other charges, including corruption and illegal campaign financing.
Funding allegations and lack of evidence
Prosecutors accused Sarkozy of supporting the isolated Libyan government in exchange for campaign funds during the rule of the late dictator Muammar Gaddafi. The Paris court stated there was no evidence of such an agreement or that the money actually reached his campaign, though it noted the financial transactions were highly opaque. Sarkozy denied all allegations.
Previous legal troubles
According to Sky News, Sarkozy was previously sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for six months, in early 2024 for attempting to bribe a judge to obtain information about a 2014 case. As a result, he was stripped of the Legion of Honor, France’s highest decoration. In 2023, he received a one-year house arrest sentence for illegal campaign financing in 2012, after exceeding legal spending limits.
