Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy imprisoned for 5 years in illegal campaign funding and criminal conspiracy case

Former French President and the right-wing politician Nicolas Sarkozy has been jailed for a five year term for being the key conspirer in the infamous Libya campaign funding case. A Paris Court on September 25, sentenced him for a 5 year imprisonment for illegally receiving the election campaign funds from the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy was the President of France from 2007 to 2012 from the Republican Party, which is a liberal-conservative political party.

The court also levied other charges against Sarkozy which includes receiving the stolen goods, embezzlement of the public goods or the snatching of public and personal property through fraudulent means and indulging in passive corruption. However, Sarkozy has persistently denied these charges on him and has claimed that the allegations are politically motivated. Most importantly, the Paris Court has reiterated that Sarkozy will be jailed for five years even if he puts a higher appeal in the court. Apparently, he is also the first post-war French President to be imprisoned.

The case also involved 11 co-defendants including three former Ministers and several other businessmen. However, a Lebanese Businessmen Ziad Takieddine, one among the key accusers, passed away on September 23, just a day ago the verdict. Earlier, Takieddine had alleged that he helped to deliver nearly 5 million euros in cash from Libyan dictator Gaddafi to Sarkozy during 2006-2007. During an interview to the private media platform, Takieddine had exclaimed that he ahd transferred suitcases filled with cash from Tripoli, capital of Libya to the interior ministry of France under the rule of Nicholas Sarkozy. However, later, Mr. Takieddine retracted from his statement that led to the initiation of a separate investigation with the doubts that President Sarkozy might have been indulged in tampering the witness.

Investigators also asserted that Sarkozy had inked a corrupt pact with the Libyan rulers, thus Libyan spies, terrorists and even arms dealers had relations with the then French government under Nicholas Sarkozy. On the other hand, the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was killed during the Arab Spring in 2011, thus ending his four decades rule. The Former French President Sarkozy was also convicted for the involvement in the illegal election campaign in 2012, during his re-election bid. In this case, he was sentenced for one year imprisonment, in the previous year. However, six months of the jail term was later suspended and he was released.

In the aftermath of the latest verdict, Nicholas Sarkozy said that the court’s ruling expresses “extremely serious” concern about the state of law and order in France. He also reiterated that the Paris Court’s ruling undermines confidence in the justice system of France. He also asserted that he will put an “appeal” against the ruling and will fight till the end to prove his innocence.