Former French President Sarkozy Found Guilty on Key Charge, Acquitted of Others in Libya Case
A Paris court found former French President Nicolas Sarkozy guilty on a key charge but acquitted him on three others Thursday in his trial for the alleged illegal financing of his 2007 presidential campaign with money from the government of then-Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
The court is still detailing its ruling and hasn’t immediately sentenced the 70-year-old Sarkozy. That step would come later in the court proceedings Thursday. Sarkozy can appeal the guilty verdict, which would suspend any sentence pending the appeal.
The court found Sarkozy guilty of criminal association in a scheme from 2005 to 2007 to finance his campaign with funds from Libya in exchange for diplomatic favors. But it cleared him of three other charges — including passive corruption, illegal campaign financing and concealment of the embezzlement of public funds.
Still, criminal association is a serious charge, carrying a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
The court also found two of Sarkozy’s closest associates when he was president — former ministers Claude Gueant and Brice Hortefeux — guilty of criminal association but likewise acquitted them of some other charges.
Overall, the verdicts appeared to suggest that the court believed that the men conspired together to seek Libyan funding for Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign but that judges weren’t convinced that the conservative leader himself was guilty of then putting the scheme in place.
