In his long-running case over alleged illegal financing of his 2007 presidential campaign, a Paris court on Thursday acquitted him of several charges and found him guilty on one. The case was based on allegations that Sarkozy accepted some money provided by the government of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi as a reward for diplomatic favours. The judgment was based on the criminal association, and he was acquitted on other offences such as passive corruption, illegal campaign financing, and embezzlement concealment.
Sarkozy, 70, and his wife, singer and model Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, and three grown-up sons were in the courtroom. There were reporters and people crowded in the courtroom. Although the court is yet to sentence Sarkozy, he can still appeal the verdict, and the sentence would be suspended pending the decision of the appeal.
The case of Guilty is a 2005-2007 scheme, where Sarkozy is alleged to have conspired with three other co-defendants, who were former ministers, to have illicit funds sent to him by Libya to fund his campaign. Although Sarkozy was found guilty, he has continued to deny all the charges during the three-month trial.
The case can be dated back to 2011, when a Libyan news agency and Gaddafi himself asserted that the campaign was secretly paid millions of euros to Former French President Sarkozy. In 2012, an investigative news organisation known as Mediapart reported an allegedly Libyan intelligence memo that detailed a 50 million-euro funding deal. Sarkozy rejected the document as a fake and sued the publication for defamation.
Despite the various scandals that have stained his presidency, Sarkozy has continued to shine in the French political scene, especially on the right-wing platform. His high-profile marriage to Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has also kept him in the limelight, other than politics. The case is a milestone in the history of France.
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