Nicolas Sarkozy Faces Trial With 12 Others Over Alleged €50 Million Libyan Funding of 2007 Campaign

Jan 5, 2025, 04:13 PM

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is set to face trial starting Monday for alleged illegal campaign financing linked to a supposed pact with the late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi. The trial, which will run until April 10, 2025, centers on accusations that Sarkozy accepted approximately €50 million from Libya to fund his successful 2007 presidential campaign. Sarkozy, who has already been convicted twice in separate cases since leaving office, will be tried alongside 12 other defendants, including former ministers Claude Guéant and Brice Hortefeux, for charges including corruption, illegal campaign financing, association of malefactors, and recel of public fund embezzlement. The case has been described as one of the largest state scandals in French history, with Sarkozy's defense arguing there is no evidence of illegal financing and suggesting the accusations stem from a vendetta by the Kadhafi regime following France's military intervention in Libya in 2011.