Libya and Muammar Gaddafi’s campaign contributions continue to torture former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The national finance prosecutor’s office wants the former president, accused in this case of suspected Libyan financing of his 2007 election campaign, be tried “for passive briberyconspiracy, illicit financing of electoral campaigns and misappropriation of public funds”.
The National Finance Attorney’s Office (PNF) released its 425-page indictment on Thursday. In it, he calls for the filing of the 13 accused people -including Sarkozy- in the scandalous file of Libyan financing suspects of his 2007 presidential campaign.
The PNF requests that the former resident, who has always denied the facts, be tried for “passive corruption, criminal association punishable by 10 years’ imprisonment, illicit financing of the electoral campaign and public embezzlement”.
Along with him, other political figures such as his former interior ministers Brice Hortefeux and Claude Guéant and former finance minister Eric Woerth are also in the PNF’s sights. The decision is now up to the investigating judges.
A relationship that lasted 10 years
This story was revealed by the Mediapart website in 2012, between the two rounds of the presidential elections.
Justice thinks that Nicolás Sarkozy could have been helped by the regime of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi to finance his successful 2007 campaign.
It’s based on about ten testimonies of Libyan dignitariesfrom Libyan intelligence memos, from suspicious movements of funds, leading to the indictment of thirteen people in this sprawling case.
In November 2016, the investigation took a turn with the revelations of the Lebanese entrepreneur Ziad Takieddine, accused and whose dismissal is also requested by the PNF, who was the contact with the Libyan dictator. He claimed to have delivered in late 2006 and early 2007, five million euros to Nicolas Sarkozythen Minister of the Interior, and his chief of staff Claude Guéant.
But Sarkozy’s faction contested it from the outset and multiplied resources, in vain, to get the proceedings annulled. “Where’s the money?” Sarkozy asked the judge at the end of 2020 during an interrogation.
The former president will also learn on Thursday 17 May the decision of the court of appeal on the “wiretapping” case, which earned him a sentence in the first instance to three years in prison for corruption and trafficking in human beings and influence. He will be tried again, from November 2023, on appeal in the Bygmalion case, whichwhich earned him a year in prison in the first instance.
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.