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By Emma De Ruiter
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Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy insisted on Wednesday that he had “not betrayed the trust of the French people,” in his final statement before the Paris Court of Appeal, which is retrying the case into allegations that the late Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi secretly funded his successful 2007 presidential campaign.
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“This case of alleged Libyan financing of my campaign began with lies and with a conspiracy; it must end in truth and transparency”, he added. “I will never be able to confess to something I did not do; that is not the performance I have been giving in front of you.”
Sarkozy, 71, was sentenced in September 2025 to five years for criminal conspiracy, becoming the first former French president in modern history to be imprisoned.
He served 20 days in Paris’ La Santé prison before being released in November under court supervision. He appealed, and prosecutors followed, seeking to revive the charges he beat and impose a longer sentence of seven years and a €300,000 fine.
On 13 May, the prosecution asked the three judges hearing the appeal to find Sarkozy guilty of corruption, illegal campaign financing and concealing the embezzlement of Libyan public funds — three charges of which he was cleared at his first trial.
Prosecutors called Sarkozy the “instigator” of the alleged corruption deal, going further than the first trial, where judges had found him guilty only of letting his aides approach the Libyan regime on his behalf.
The first court cleared him of corruption on technical grounds, ruling that as a presidential candidate, he lacked the “public authority” status required by France’s anti-corruption law.
The former president has faced multiple corruption cases in recent years, but the Libya case carries by far the heaviest political and symbolic weight, alleging that a foreign dictatorship helped bring a French president to power.
Other members of Sarkozy’s inner circle, including former chief of staff Claude Guéant, former Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux, longtime Sarkozy fixer Alexandre Djouhri, and Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign treasurer Éric Woerth, also face charges in the case.
The appeal court’s decision has been reserved and is expected on 30 November.
Additional sources • AP, AFP
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