Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy Sentenced to Five Years in Prison

Report by “Safarti Tarjuman” International News Desk

Paris — Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to five years in prison for criminal conspiracy linked to attempts to secure campaign financing from Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya, marking an unprecedented downfall for one of France’s most influential leaders.

The ruling makes Sarkozy the first former president of France set to serve actual jail time. The court confirmed that the sentence is immediately enforceable, giving him only weeks to arrange his personal affairs before reporting to prison.

Emerging from the Paris courthouse visibly shaken, Sarkozy condemned the verdict as politically motivated.

“If they absolutely want me to sleep in jail, I will sleep in jail, but with my head held high,” he told reporters. “I will not apologise for something I didn’t do.”

His wife, model and singer-songwriter Carla Bruni, stood by his side during the announcement.

The court ruled Sarkozy guilty of criminal conspiracy between 2005 and 2007, when he allegedly allowed close aides to seek campaign contributions from Libyan intermediaries. He was acquitted of more serious charges of corruption and receiving illegal financing.

While the judge acknowledged there was no direct proof of Sarkozy striking a deal with Gaddafi or funds directly reaching his 2007 campaign, the court found the network of contacts and opaque money flows sufficient to establish conspiracy.

Defense lawyer Jean-Michel Darrois called the ruling a “shock,” arguing that Sarkozy’s innocence had been disregarded. His legal team confirmed plans to appeal.

The ruling has already divided France’s political landscape:

• Right-wing allies rushed to defend Sarkozy, denouncing the judiciary as biased.
• Left-wing politicians welcomed the decision as a victory for judicial independence.
• Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally, warned that immediate rulings without waiting for appeals were a “grave danger.”

Rights group Sherpa, which campaigned for justice in the Libya case, hailed the decision as a sign of “bravery and independence” within the French justice system.

Despite being stripped of the Legion of Honour in June, Sarkozy remains a significant figure in French politics, recently advising Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu and publicly legitimizing Le Pen’s National Rally as part of France’s “republican arc.”

His legal woes, however, continue to mount:

• In 2024, France’s highest court upheld his conviction for corruption and influence peddling, forcing him to wear an electronic monitoring tag.
• An appeals court also confirmed his conviction for illegal campaign financing in his failed 2012 re-election bid. A final decision in that case is expected next month.

Sarkozy, who governed France from 2007 to 2012, has long denied any wrongdoing, portraying the cases against him as politically motivated attacks.

The harsh sentence — stronger than many observers anticipated — cements his stunning fall from power and sets a historic precedent for accountability at the highest level of French politics.

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