Election campaign money from Libya: Historical judgment: Five years in prison for Sarkozy

It is an unprecedented judgment: In the affair about alleged campaign funds from Libya, a Parisian criminal court of France condemned France’s ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy in prison. A former head of state has never received such a tough punishment in recent French history. It is a slap in the face of the 70 -year -old conservative Sarkozy, who always asserted his innocence in the mammoth process. He reacted up and announced. Even if the guilty verdict is not yet final, Sarkozy should soon have to take care of.

The judgment is also historical because the judiciary also considers machinations that have the format of a state affair. The Paris Criminal Court saw no evidence that there was actually an illegal financial aid for Sarkozy’s presidential election campaign in 2007 from Libya. In his reasoning, however, it was assumed that the conservative and close confidant definitely tried to get money from Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafis for campaign purposes.

Judge sees “extraordinary severity of the crime”

The presiding judge Nathalie Gavarino said that Sarkozy as the then Minister of the Interior and his close employees and political supporters who were subordinate to him and who acted in his name would have tried to ask for a financing of the campaign in Libya.

Sarkozy was guilty of participation in a criminal association, “an offense against the nation, the state and public order”. Gavarino spoke of an “extraordinary severity” of the deed. On the other hand, the Sarkozy court freedom spoke of the allegations of bribery and illegal campaign financing.

Sarkozy outraged by hard judgment

The court’s judgment was correspondingly hard. The court issued an arrest warrant against Sarkozy. The date of the detention should be set in the event of a summons. In addition, the court prescribed a preliminary execution of the judgment. This means that Sarkozy has to take care even if he goes into appeal. A spokesman for the public prosecutor could not say shortly after the judgment whether Sarkozy could be specifically against these measures. In principle, convicts that are 70 years or older can apply for in prison.

Sarkozy reacted indignantly to the guilty verdict. In the courthouse he spoke of an “unbearable injustice” and a scandal. Hate against him knows no limits. “I am innocent and naturally I will make an appeal.” If he had to sleep in prison, then “with a head raised,” he said. “I will fight until my last breath to prove my full innocence.”

Charges accused Sarkozy corruption pact with Gaddafi

The Libya affair was all about the accusation that for Sarkozy’s presidential election campaign in 2007, money was said to have flowed from the state leadership of the then Libyan ruler Gaddafi. A witness testified in 2016 that he brought several cases prepared in Libya to the Paris Ministry of Paris at the end of 2006 or early 2007, which was then led by Sarkozy.

According to the indictment, the later president concluded a corruption pact with Gaddafi. Familiar Sarkozys are said to have threaded the alleged flows of money through middlemen. However, the court considered many statements to be contradictory and did not use it. The alleged submission of million sums in suitcases is also not detectable.

Further prison sentence imposed

In addition to the former head of state, twelve other people were charged with the politically explosive process – including three former ministers. The court imposed six years in prison against the co -accused former Interior Minister Claude Guéant, two years in prison against former Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux. The formerly accused former Minister of Labor éric Woerth was acquitted.

The three -month mammoth process followed for more than ten years of investigation. The investigations had started after the Gaddafi family himself claimed to have financed the conservative election campaign. The spectacular process then dealt with ominous secret meetings and diary entries of a Gaddafi confidante.

Sarkozy has been fighting with the judiciary for years

For Sarkozy, the verdict is probably the largest defeat so far in its struggle with the judiciary that has been going on for years. After all, he actually threatens prison, even if he was acquitted from central charges. In two other cases, the former hope of France’s bourgeois right was convicted, once legally binding. The previous low point was that Sarkozy had to wear a booth for a good three months and was only allowed to leave his house at certain times. Now he was probably undercut.