France’s ex-president Sarkozy faces trial over alleged illegal campaign financing tied to Gaddafi

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, already convicted twice in separate legal cases since leaving office, will go on trial on Monday, charged with accepting illegal campaign financing in a suspected agreement with the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Sarkozy will be in the dock at the Paris court barely half a month after France's top appeals court on December 18 rejected his appeal against a one year prison sentence for influence peddling, which he is to serve by wearing an electronic bracelet rather than in jail, News.az reports, citing foreign media.

The career of Sarkozy has been shadowed by legal troubles since he lost the 2012 presidential election. But he remains an influential figure for many on the right and is also known to regularly meet President Emmanuel Macron.

The fiercely ambitious and energetic politician, 69, who is married to the model and singer Carla Bruni and while in power from 2007-2012 liked to be known as the "hyper-president", has been convicted in two cases, charged in another and is being investigated in connection with two more.

The latest trial is the result of a decade of investigations into accusations that Sarkozy accepted illegal campaign financing – reportedly amounting to some 50 million euros – from Gaddafi to help his victorious 2007 election campaign.

In exchange, it is alleged, Sarkozy and senior figures pledged to help Gaddafi rehabilitate his international image after Tripoli was blamed for bombing attacks on Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988 over Lockerbie in Scotland and UTA Flight 772 in 1989 that killed hundreds of passengers.

Sarkozy has denounced the accusations as part of a conspiracy against him, insisting that he never received any financing for the campaign from Gaddafi and that there is no evidence of any such transfer.

News.Az