Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced by a Paris criminal court to five years in prison and a €100,000 fine after being found guilty of criminal conspiracy linked to alleged Libyan financing of his 2007 presidential campaign.
Judges found Sarkozy conspired between 2005 and 2007 (while interior minister) to seek Libyan funds in exchange for diplomatic favors.
However, they acquitted him of passive corruption, illegal campaign financing, and embezzlement of Libyan public funds. The panel emphasized that a conspiracy offense can be established even without proof that money reached the campaign.
While the case featured years of investigative material, judges said they could not determine with certainty that Libyan money financed the 2007 campaign. The court nonetheless concluded the conspiracy existed.
Businessman Ziad Takieddine, a key figure whose statements shifted over time, died days before the verdict, and a separate probe into alleged witness pressure remains open.
Sarkozy, 70, denied wrongdoing, calling the verdict “extremely serious for the rule of law,” and vowed to appeal.
“If they absolutely want me to sleep in jail, I will sleep in jail — but with my head held high,” he said after the ruling.
The court ordered that he serve jail time even if he appeals, a historic first for a modern French head of state.
Prosecutors had requested seven years, and Judge Nathalie Gavarino presided over a months-long trial that began January 6 and closed April 10, with judgment delivered Thursday. Two close allies, former ministers Claude Guéant and Brice Hortefeux, were also convicted of conspiracy while the others were acquitted.
Thursday’s sentence lands atop Sarkozy’s prior convictions: in 2021, he received three years (two suspended) for corruption and influence-peddling in the “wiretap” case. In February 2024, an appeals court upheld his guilt in the 2012 “Bygmalion” overspending case and set a one-year term with six months suspended and six months via electronic tag. In December 2024, France’s top court confirmed the corruption ruling, leading to electronic monitoring. In June 2025, he was stripped of the Legion of Honour.
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