• Ex-PM faces 10 years in jail, fine
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s trial began yesterday over charges he accepted millions of euros from former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to finance his successful 2007 presidential campaign.
The case is the latest in a string of legal woes for Sarkozy, whose 2023 conviction for corruption and influence peddling was upheld last month. While some experts argue that this case — coming at a tumultuous moment in French politics, and coinciding with the trial of extreme-right leader Marine Le Pen — will deepen distrust in the country’s political system, others say a disillusioned public may simply look the other way.
Although Sarkozy is no longer active in France’s politics, he remains a prominent and influential conservative figure.
Prosecutors said Gaddafi bragged about contributing 50 million euros (about $65 million in the year’s exchange rate) toward Sarkozy’s campaign and expected diplomatic leverage in return. After Sarkozy won, Gaddafi said in an interview, “It’s thanks to us that he reached the presidency; we provided him with the funds that allowed him to win.”
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According to the government, suitcases containing millions of euros in cash were brought into France to fund Sarkozy’s run in what has been deemed a “corruption pact.” The court will investigate whether Sarkozy offered or gave anything in return; rumoured favours included lifting an international arrest warrant on Abdullah al-Senussi, Gaddafi’s spy chief.
Sarkozy faces charges of concealment of embezzlement of public funds and criminal association, illegal campaign financing and passive corruption. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in jail and a 375,000 euro ($389,000) fine. Three former ministers are also on trial, along with eight others. He has always denied the charges.
The trial comes at a shaky moment in France’s political landscape. After President Emmanuel Macron abruptly dissolved the government in June, the parliament has yet to find its footing; there have been three prime ministers since then, and the National Assembly — the lower house — remains at risk of collapse. Macron has already hinted at dissolving the government again in June, threatening a fresh round of chaos.
“This is the first time in France that a president, to my knowledge, has been convicted of such serious things, for corruption,” Michel Wieviorka, a French sociologist and former president of the International Sociological Association, told Courthouse News. “So, it indicates a worsening of the problem of the disapproval of political leaders in public opinion — for me, that is the most important thing.”
This summer, Brice Teinturier — the deputy director of Ipsos in France — said that 85% of people have a negative perception of France’s political leaders.
“This judgment occurs at a time when the political class as a whole is disowned as never before; everyone has the feeling that today’s political actors represent public opinion very little, and that they are all questionable, which I say cautiously.” Wieviorka said. “We are in the midst of a political and institutional crisis in France.”