A court in Paris has begun considering a new case against former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
As Day.Az reports, he is accused of a corruption conspiracy with the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in the mid-2000s. This is the third lawsuit against Sarkozy. If the court finds him guilty, the former president faces up to 10 years in prison.
Sarkozy, who turns 70 in January, appeared in court and spoke amiably with his lawyers but made no statements to the public. He was not yet wearing the bracelet required by his recent sentence.
The former head of state is accused of illegally financing his 2007 presidential campaign. According to investigators, in 2005 a “corruption agreement” was concluded between Sarkozy and Muammar Gaddafi. As a result of this deal, the former president’s campaign headquarters received 50 million euros.
The French press calls this case against Sarkozy “Libyan.” Court hearings will continue until April 10. The court will examine whether the Libyan regime sought diplomatic, legal and business favors in exchange for funding Sarkozy’s presidential campaign.
In addition to the former president, there are eleven other defendants in the case, including former Interior Minister Claude Gueant, former French Budget Minister Eric Werth, as well as Sarkozy’s adviser and former member of the French government Brice Ortefeu.
Sarkozy denies the accusations. If the court finds him guilty, he faces up to 10 years in prison, as well as a fine of 375 thousand euros and deprivation of civil rights for up to five years.