French prosecutors request a 7-year prison sentence for Sarkozy
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The former French President has been facing a series of corruption cases, and he has already been sentenced to wear an electronic tag for a year for a different case.
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ormer French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrives as he goes on trial over alleged illegal financing of his 2007 presidential campaign by the government of late Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi, in Paris, France, on Monday, January 6, 2025. (AP)
French prosecutors requested on Thursday a 7-year sentence for the former French President Nicolas Sarkozy following his conviction and sentencing for a separate case.
The prosecutors' request comes as part of the trial against the former president, accusing him of accepting illegal campaign financing in alleged agreement with the former President of Libya, Muammar al-Gaddafi. In addition to the prison sentence, the prosecution recommended a fine of 300,000 euros (330,000 dollars) and banning the former President from holding office for five years.
The historic trial accuses Sarkozy and 12 other individuals, including three former government ministers, of criminal conspiracy to accept substantial funds from a foreign regime.
After a decade-long anti-corruption probe, the court examined allegations of a "corruption deal" between Sarkozy and Gaddafi’s regime, which supposedly involves cash-filled suitcases being delivered to French government buildings to finance Sarkozy’s victorious 2007 presidential campaign.
The trial will also explore whether the Libyan regime sought diplomatic, legal, and business favors in exchange for campaign financing.
10 years in prison
Among the requests was an alleged effort to lift France’s international arrest warrant against Gaddafi’s intelligence chief, Abdullah al-Senussi, convicted in absentia for the 1989 bombing of a UTA passenger plane that killed 170 people.
If convicted, Sarkozy could face up to 10 years in prison, along with close associates Claude Gueant and Brice Hortefeux, both of whom deny wrongdoing. Sarkozy’s former budget minister, Eric Woerth, now an MP for Emmanuel Macron’s party, is also on trial and denies involvement.
Sarkozy sat in the courtroom with a stone-faced expression as the requests were read out, according to an AFP reporter, and later took to social media to express his outrage, describing the prosecution's request as "an outrage" and denouncing the allegations against him as both "false" and "violent."
— Nicolas Sarkozy (@NicolasSarkozy) March 27, 2025
The former French President vehemently denied the allegations that he took money from the former Libyan leader, "You will never ever find a single euro, a single Libyan cent, in my campaign," he said.
Prosecutor Sebastien de la Touanne said, "a very dark picture of a part of our Republic has emerged," during the 12-week hearing sessions, accusing Nicolas Sarkozy of conducting a "frantic quest for funding" to satiate his "consuming political ambition."
Sarkozy "does not seem to appreciate the seriousness of the breaches of integrity" which he is accused of, la Touanne added.
