Appeal trial of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy ends
Judge will give verdict over claims of corruption and illegal campaign financing in November
The former president is alleged to have received illegal funding for his 2007 election campaign
SC Image / Shutterstock
The appeal trial launched by former French President Nicolas Sarkozy over a conviction regarding illegal financing of the 2007 election campaign ended yesterday (May 27).
The presiding judge will now deliberate on the case and give his verdict on November 30.
Prosecutors are seeking a seven-year prison sentence for the former president, who they allege received illegal funding for his campaign from Libyan sources, including those who had links with former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
The financing, they argue, was in return for French diplomatic support of Libya and the lifting of an arrest warrant against Abdallah Senoussi, convicted due to his role in a 1989 plane bombing. Mr Senoussi was related to Mr Gaddafi via marriage.
The appeal case looked at several former charges against Mr Sarkozy, including those for which he had previously been partially acquitted as well as a conviction for criminal conspiracy and corruption, which came with an original five-year sentence.
In relation to the latter, Mr Sarkozy spent three weeks in prison in 2025 before being released, becoming the first president of the Fifth Republic to face jail time.
The trial is the final step in a some 13-year saga over the alleged financing, which has rocked France and implicated several other high-ranking politicians, including former Interior Minister Claude Guéant.
Regardless of the outcome of the appeals trial, Mr Sarkozy faces a six-month custodial sentence due to other convictions.
This would probably be spent as a form of house arrest, with electronic monitoring to ensure Mr Satkozy respects the term.
‘I could not confess to something I didn’t do’
Mr Sarkozy defended himself in the witness box, stating that “this affair of alleged Libyan financing of my campaign began with lies and conspiracy; it must end with truth and transparency,” he is reported as saying by Franceinfo.
His main argument is that no proof of funds were ever found; "I fought…I argued my case. My life was scrutinised, and nothing was found.”
However, French law does not require any proof of the funding to be found for a guilty conviction, but proof of a ‘coordinated plan’, which led to the original five-year sentence.
The former president said the trial had taken on a political tone over the years.
“[The prosecutors claim] that I was elected in May 2007 in a rigged election… Whoever dared to utter those words forgot that it was the election that mobilised the most French people,” he said.
Indeed, the 2007 presidential election saw an 83% turnout in both the first and second round, with Mr Sarkozy winning the latter with 53% of the votes.
“So these voters were misled by the money - which you haven't found - of Mr. Gaddafi?” The former president asked.
“I love my country, and I cannot understand how, in France in 2026, a man could be sentenced to seven years in prison for crimes he did not commit and against which, after fourteen years of investigation, there is no evidence whatsoever.”
“I could never confess to something I didn’t do. This is not a charade I’ve been putting on for you.”
If the court finds Mr Sarkozy guilty he may return to La Santé prison, the original location of his three-week imprisonment.
