{"id":209165,"date":"2025-09-25T16:38:26","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T16:38:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/?p=209165"},"modified":"2025-09-25T16:38:26","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T16:38:26","slug":"nicolas-sarkozy-given-five-year-prison-sentence-after-libya-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/nicolas-sarkozy-given-five-year-prison-sentence-after-libya-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"Nicolas Sarkozy given five-year prison sentence after Libya trial"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former French president found guilty of criminal conspiracy after being accused of pact with Gaddafi regime<\/strong><\/p>\n

The former French president Nicolas Sarkozy said he would \u201csleep in jail but with my head held high<\/em>\u201d after receiving a five-year prison sentence \u2013 the first time a former head of state has been sent to prison in modern French history \u2013 for criminal conspiracy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The verdict and sentencing followed a trial in which he and his aides were accused of making a corruption pact with the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi to receive funding for the 2007 French presidential election campaign.<\/p>\n

In a surprise ruling, the head judge, Nathalie Gavarino, handed down a special form of sentence that means Sarkozy, 70, will have to serve a prison term even if he appeals. She justified the conviction and sentencing on the grounds the offences were of \u201cexceptional gravity<\/em>\u201d and \u201clikely to undermine citizens\u2019 trust<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The start of Sarkozy\u2019s sentence will be set at a later date, with prosecutors given a month to inform the former head of state when he should go to prison.<\/p>\n

The judge also ordered Sarkozy to pay a \u20ac100,000 (\u00a387,000) fine.<\/p>\n

Sarkozy\u2019s prison sentence was harsher than many expected. As he exited the courtroom, he expressed his anger, telling reporters: \u201cWhat occurred today \u2026.\u2026 is of extreme gravity in regard to the rule of law, and for the trust one can have in the justice system<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarkozy, who had denied all wrongdoing in court and will appeal, said \u201cI am innocent, this justice is a scandal<\/em>\u201d and that \u201chatred<\/em>\u201d against him \u201cclearly knows no limits<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose that hate me this much think they will humiliate me<\/em>,\u201d said Sarkozy, who was France\u2019s right-wing president from 2007 to 2012. \u201cBut what they have humiliated today is France, the image of France<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was found guilty of criminal conspiracy but acquitted of corruption, misuse of Libyan public funds and illegal election campaign funding.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors had told the court that Sarkozy and his aides devised a \u201ccorruption pact<\/em>\u201d with Gaddafi and the Libyan regime in 2005 to illegally fund Sarkozy\u2019s victorious presidential election campaign two years later.<\/p>\n

The court had heard that in return for the money, the Libyan regime requested diplomatic, legal and business favours and it was understood that Sarkozy would rehabilitate Gaddafi\u2019s international image.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors accused members of Sarkozy\u2019s entourage of meeting members of Gaddafi\u2019s regime in Libya in 2005, when Sarkozy was interior minister. Soon after becoming president in 2007, Sarkozy then invited the Libyan leader for a lengthy state visit to Paris during which he set up his Bedouin tent in gardens near the \u00c9lys\u00e9e Palace.<\/p>\n

In 2011, Sarkozy put France at the forefront of NATO-led airstrikes against Gaddafi\u2019s troops that helped rebel fighters topple his regime. Gaddafi was captured by rebels in October 2011 and killed.<\/p>\n

The allegations of a secret campaign funding pact made this the biggest corruption trial faced by Sarkozy. He has already been convicted in two separate cases and stripped of France\u2019s highest distinction, the Legion of Honour<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In the first case, Sarkozy was convicted of corruption and influence peddling over illegal attempts to secure favours from a judge. He was given a one-year jail term, which he served this year with an electronic tag for three months before being granted conditional release. It was the first time a former French head of state had been forced to wear an electronic tag. Sarkozy had to wear the tag into the Paris criminal court during part of the trial over Libya campaign funding.<\/p>\n

In a second case, Sarkozy was convicted of hiding illegal overspending in the 2012 presidential election that he lost to the Socialist candidate, Fran\u00e7ois Hollande. He has appealed against both convictions.<\/p>\n

Despite his convictions, Sarkozy continues to meet and be consulted by key figures on the right and in the centre of politics. He recently met his former protege, the new prime minister, S\u00e9bastien Lecornu, who has yet to form a new government after the last government collapsed in a no-confidence vote this month.<\/p>\n

Claude Gu\u00e9ant, who was the director of Sarkozy\u2019s 2007 presidential campaign before being made Sarkozy\u2019s chief of staff and then interior minister, was found guilty of criminal conspiracy and corruption.<\/p>\n

Brice Hortefeux, another Sarkozy ally, who also served as interior minister, was found guilty of criminal conspiracy but acquitted of illegal campaign funding. Both he and Gu\u00e9ant are likely to appeal against their convictions.<\/p>\n

\u00c9ric Woerth, another former minister who was Sarkozy\u2019s head of campaign financing in 2007 and has since moved to Emmanuel Macron\u2019s centrist party, was acquitted.<\/p>\n

In a sudden turn of events, the Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine, who told the investigative website Mediapart<\/em> in a filmed interview in 2016 that he had helped deliver suitcases of cash from Gaddafi to Sarkozy\u2019s entourage, died of a heart attack in Beirut, two days before the verdict.<\/p>\n

In 2020, Takieddine had suddenly retracted his incriminating statement about transporting suitcases of cash in the Libya case, prompting accusations that Sarkozy and close allies paid him off, something they have always denied. Shortly afterwards, Takieddine contradicted his own retraction.<\/p>\n

A separate legal case has been opened into Takieddine\u2019s retraction. Sarkozy and his wife, the singer and former model Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, and several others have been placed under formal investigation on suspicion of putting pressure on a witness over Takieddine retracting his allegations. They all deny any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

Source<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

yogaesoteric
\nSeptember 25, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former French president found guilty of criminal conspiracy after being accused of pact with Gaddafi regime The former French president Nicolas Sarkozy said he would \u201csleep in jail but with my head held high\u201d after receiving a five-year prison sentence \u2013 the first time a former head of state has been sent to prison in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-209165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-events-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209165"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":209169,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209165\/revisions\/209169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}