A French court on September 25 sentenced former President Nicolas Sarkozy to five years in prison in the so-called “Libyan case,” finding him partially guilty of accepting illicit funding from the regime of Muammar Gaddafi for his 2007 presidential campaign.
The judgment includes a suspended portion and a €100,000 fine but still represents one of the harshest rulings ever handed down to a French head of state in the Fifth Republic, BFMTV reported
Prosecutors had sought seven years in prison, a €300,000 fine, and a five-year ban on holding public office. The court imposed a lighter package but one that observers nonetheless described as “harsher than expected.”
Sarkozy’s legal team is expected to appeal; however, the court’s decision means he could begin serving his sentence while further challenges proceed, subject to procedural decisions by appellate judges.
The ruling adds to Sarkozy’s record of convictions. On March 1, 2021, he was sentenced in the “wiretapping” (influence-peddling) case, becoming the first former president of the Fifth Republic to receive a custodial sentence; he avoided immediate imprisonment by appealing.
In September 2021, he was found guilty of illegal financing of his 2012 campaign (the “Bygmalion” affair). On December 18, 2024, France’s highest court rejected his final appeal in the influence-peddling case, cementing that conviction.
Sarkozy’s downfall has reshaped how French politics views campaign finance and contacts with authoritarian regimes. The “Libyan case”—centered on whether a foreign dictatorship secretly bankrolled a Western election—underscores both the legal risk for politicians and the systemic vulnerability of democratic regimes.
Beyond Sarkozy’s personal fate, the judgment reinforces France’s tougher line on illicit money in politics and may catalyze further reforms of campaign oversight and foreign-influence safeguards.
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