Nicolas Sarkozy will appear in court over allegations of Gaddafi’s election support

FORMER French President Nicolas Sarkozy has appeared in court in Paris, accused of taking millions of euros in illegal money from late Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi to fund his 2007 election campaign.

In exchange, the prosecutor says, Sarkozy promised to help Gaddafi fight his reputation for aligning with the West.

Sarkozy, 69, was president of France from 2007 to 2012.

He has always denied the charges, saying that they were filed against him by people who have the intention of bringing him down.

The investigation was opened in 2013, two years after Saif al-Islam, the son of the Libyan leader at the time, first accused Sarkozy of taking millions of his father’s money to finance the campaign.

The following year, Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine – who worked for a long time as an intermediary between France and the Middle East – said he had written evidence that Sarkozy’s campaign was heavily financed by Tripoli, and that 50 million euros (£43m). ) payments continued after he became president.

Another 12 people – accused of establishing a deal with Gaddafi – have been arrested in Sarkozy’s case. All deny the charges.

Sarkozy’s wife, Italian-born former supermodel and singer Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, He was charged last year with concealing evidence related to the Gaddafi case and associating with criminals to commit fraud, both of which he denies.

Since losing his bid for re-election in 2012, Sarkozy has been the target of numerous criminal investigations.

He also appealed the February 2024 decision he received guilty of excessive spending in his 2012 re-election campaignthen hires a PR firm to cover it. He was sentenced to one year, suspended for six months.

In 2021, he was found guilty of attempting to bribe a judge in 2014 and became the first French president to receive a life sentence. In December, a Paris appeals court ruled that he could serve his time at home wearing a tag instead of going to jail.

Sarkozy was not wearing this tag as he arrived at the court in Paris on Monday morning.

However, that is because the details of that sentence have not been clarified.

It is possible that as the case continues which lasted for three months regarding what is said to be connected to Libya, the former president will appear wearing this device.

The case will continue until April 10. If found guilty, Sarkozy faces up to 10 years in prison.