Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday during his appearance before a court in Paris that the accusations against him of obtaining illegal funds from Libya in 2007 were a “conspiracy” prepared by “liars and fraudsters.”
In his first statement since the start of the trial in this case last Monday, Sarkozy (69 years old) added that his campaign for the presidential elections at that time did not receive any money from the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who was ruling Libya.
The former president spoke in a nervous tone and with a strong voice, waving his arms as he defended himself against the accusations. Addressing the judges, he said, “You will never find a Libyan euro, nor even a single Libyan cent, in my campaign.”
The former president, an experienced lawyer, accused what he called “groups of liars and fraudsters,” including the “Gaddafi clan,” of providing allegations to investigators.
Sarkozy – who was President of France between 2007 and 2012 – faces charges that include concealing the embezzlement of public funds, illegal financing of election campaigns and criminal conspiracy, and faces the possibility of being sentenced to up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 375 thousand euros, in addition to deprivation of civil rights ( Hence, ineligibility) for a period of 5 years, if proven guilty.
The prosecution accuses the former president of concluding an agreement with Gaddafi to receive secret funding worth millions of euros in order to finance his election campaign, but says that investigators did not find any evidence convicting him, including the supposed Libyan funds, after investigations that lasted 10 years.
The French authorities opened an investigation in 2013 after the French investigative website Media Part published what it said was a memorandum from the Libyan intelligence services dated December 2006 that referred to the supposed deal. Sarkozy says that the memorandum is a “gross forgery” and is motivated by revenge because he called for the departure of… Muammar Gaddafi after the outbreak of the Libyan revolution in early 2011.
In this case, 11 people are being tried with Sarkozy, including 3 former ministers, the Lebanese businessman Ziad Taqi al-Din, who fled to Lebanon, and Bashir Saleh, the former head of the office of the late Libyan leader, who took refuge during the Libyan revolution in France and then left for South Africa.
The former president was previously convicted in two separate cases, and last month the French Court of Cassation rejected his appeal against his conviction in a case of corruption and abuse of influence, confirming the final ruling of subjecting him to surveillance for a year via an electronic bracelet, which is a punishment issued for the first time against a former head of state in France.