Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of criminal conspiracy in a high-profile case linking him to the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
The court ruled that Sarkozy and some of his allies secretly worked with Gaddafi’s regime to obtain money for his 2007 presidential campaign.
The verdict, delivered by Judge Nathalie Gavarino, marked a sharp turn in the long-running legal battle. Although Sarkozy was cleared of corruption, misuse of Libyan funds, and illegal campaign financing, he was convicted of conspiracy. He was also fined €100,000. The sentence requires him to serve time, though prosecutors will announce the official start date later. Sarkozy, 70, could request to serve his term under electronic monitoring rather than in prison. His lawyers have already confirmed he will appeal.
The court heard that Sarkozy’s campaign team established a deal with Libyan officials as early as 2005, when Sarkozy was still interior minister. In exchange for funds, the French politician was expected to offer diplomatic and political support to rehabilitate Gaddafi’s global image. Shortly after becoming president in 2007, Sarkozy invited Gaddafi to Paris for a state visit—the first of its kind since Libya’s international isolation in the 1980s.
The relationship shifted in 2011 when Sarkozy played a central role in NATO-led airstrikes against Gaddafi’s forces during the Libyan uprising. Gaddafi was later captured and killed by rebel fighters.
The Libya trial has been the most complex corruption case faced by Sarkozy, who led France from 2007 to 2012. He has already been convicted in two other cases: one for attempting to obtain confidential information from a judge, which earned him a year of home confinement with an electronic tag, and another for exceeding campaign spending limits in his failed 2012 re-election bid. Both cases are under appeal.
Other allies of Sarkozy were also convicted this week. Claude Guéant, his former chief of staff and later interior minister, was found guilty of conspiracy and corruption. Brice Hortefeux, another close aide, was convicted of conspiracy but cleared of illegal campaign funding. Eric Woerth, Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign treasurer who later joined President Emmanuel Macron’s party, was acquitted.
The ruling came just days after Ziad Takieddine, a businessman central to the allegations, died suddenly of a heart attack in Beirut. In 2016, he claimed to have delivered suitcases of cash from Gaddafi to Sarkozy’s team but later retracted his statement before contradicting himself again. Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, are under investigation for allegedly pressuring Takieddine to withdraw his claims, an accusation they deny.
Despite his convictions, Sarkozy continues to wield influence in French politics. He has been seen meeting with right-wing and centrist leaders, including Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, as debates over the country’s political future intensify.