Sarkozy on trial: Campaigns, Gaddafi and suitcases full of cash

FRANCE 24

9 January 2025 at 3:10 am·1-min read

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi at a signing of €10 billion bilateral trade deals in December 2007 at the Elysée Palace.

Former French president Nicholas Sarkozy went on trial January 6 for allegedly accepting some €50 million from late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to fund his successful 2007 presidential bid . The accusations involve a dozen defendants of various nationalities as well as spy chiefs, suitcases of cash and a mysterious drowning in Vienna.

Financial prosecutors in France have accused former president Nicolas Sarkozy of brokering a 2005 deal with Gaddafi to fund his first – and ultimately successful – presidential bid.

In exchange, then finance minister Sarkozy is suspected of agreeing to help rehabilitate the Gaddafi regime, which at the time remained internationally isolated as a pariah state.

The former president is accused of accepting some €50 million in cash from Gaddafi, more than double the legal campaign funding limit of €21 million at the time. France has strict caps on what candidates can spend on a political campaign and only contributions from French citizens or residents of France can be accepted.

Sarkozy has described the Libya allegations as part of a conspiracy.

(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP and Reuters)

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