Sarkozy stands trial over Gadhafi campaign financing
Former French President Sarkozy is standing trial for alleged illegal financing of his 2007 presidential campaign by Moammar Gadhafi, former leader of Libya.
Sarkozy, who served as president from 2007 to 2012, faces multiple charges of corruption, illegal financing, embezzlement and criminal association, reported by the Associated Press on January 6, 2025.
The case came to light in March 2011 after multiple tip offs of financial association between the Libyan autocrat and the French president.
Gadhafi himself said “it’s thanks to us that he reached the presidency. We provided him with the funds that allowed him to win”.
The case gained traction after French-Lebanese businessman, Takieddine, told Mediapart in 2016 that he delivered millions in cash to the French Interior Ministry from Libya.
However, four years later, Takieddine reversed his statement causing concern over witness tampering.
This is not the first time that Sarkozy has been embroiled in scandal. In December 2024, the Court of Cassation upheld a conviction of corruption and influence peddling by Sarkozy.
In February 2024, “an appeals court in Paris found Sarkozy guilty of illegal campaign financing in his failed 2012 re-election bid”.
This new trial, branded the “Libya case”, has involved investigators examining claims that “Gadhafi’s government secretly agreed to give Sarkozy up to 50 million euros for his 2007 campaign.
The sum was more than double the legal campaign funding limit at the time, violating French rules”.
Following his election in 2007, Sarkozy welcomed Gadhafi to Paris with great honours.
However, by 2011, he became “one of the first Western leaders to push for military intervention in Libya in March 2011”. This resulted in NATO-led airstrikes which assisted the rebel forces who ultimately toppled Gaddhafi later that year.
This new trial is expected to run into April 2025 and Sarkozy remains publicly hopeful. The result of the trial, even in the event he is found not guilty, will likely remain prominent in Sarkozy’s legacy.
Associated Press
