The trial of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has come to a conclusion, having cast a harsh spotlight on allegations that he struck a secret deal with Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi for millions in illicit campaign funds in exchange for diplomatic favours and a promise to rehabilitate Libya’s standing with the West.
The verdict, expected on 25 September, will come after a case that has peeled back the layers of alleged corruption, secret diplomacy, and emotional fallout tied to the late Libyan leader.
If found guilty, Sarkozy faces seven years in prison, a fine of €300,000 and ineligibility to run for office for five years – an unprecedented sentence for a former head of state.
At the centre of the case is the explosive accusation that Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential campaign received illegal funding from Kadhafi's regime – a charge 70-year-old Sarkozy vigorously denied.
Launched in January, the trial has brought deeply sensitive issues back into public view. One of the most poignant moments came from the families of victims of the 1989 UTA Flight 772 bombing, who voiced heartbreak and disbelief that the memory of their loved ones might have been sacrificed for political gain.
“What did they do with our dead?” asked Nicoletta Diasio, whose father was among the 170 people killed in the attack. She wondered aloud whether their memories were “used for bartering” in backdoor talks between French officials and Libya.
Speaking on the final day of his trial – accompanied by his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy – the former head of state remained defiant saying: "I will not respond to a political and violent indictment."
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'Diplomatic overreach'
Libya, once a pariah state due to its links to terrorism – including the 1988 Lockerbie bombing – began its slow return to the international stage in 2003 by taking responsibility for past attacks and dismantling its nuclear weapons programme.
These gestures opened the door for Western countries, including France, to re-engage with Kadhafi's oil-rich nation.
In 2007, Sarkozy made headlines – and stirred controversy – by welcoming Kadhafi to Paris with full honours, even allowing him to set up a Bedouin tent near the Élysée Palace.
The gesture was seen by many as a diplomatic overreach. Sarkozy later told the court he would have preferred to do without the visit, but argued it was a necessary step following Libya’s release of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor imprisoned under false charges.
Their release, partially brokered by then-first lady Cecilia Sarkozy and EU officials, removed a final hurdle for Libya's reintegration into the international community. The next day, Sarkozy travelled to Tripoli for direct talks with Kadhafi.
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Cash for campaign allegations
During the trial, Sarkozy expressed pride in helping to free the medics, saying the mission would not have been possible without engaging with Kadhafi – though prosecutors allege this engagement may have gone much further than diplomacy.
Financial investigators have accused Sarkozy of promising to help lift an international arrest warrant against Kadhafi's intelligence chief, Abdullah al-Senoussi, in return for campaign financing.
Al-Senoussi, convicted in absentia in France for masterminding the 1989 UTA bombing, allegedly met with Sarkozy’s close associates Claude Guéant and Brice Hortefeux in 2005 during a surprise visit to Tripoli.
The claims of Libyan funding resurfaced this year when Kadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam, told RFI that he personally delivered €4.5 million in cash to Sarkozy’s campaign team – a claim Sarkozy has strongly rejected.
“You’ll never find one Libyan euro, one Libyan cent in my campaign,” he said at the trial’s opening. “There’s no corruption money because there was no corruption.”
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Sarkozy's stance toward Libya would eventually change dramatically.
In 2011, during the Arab Spring uprisings, he became the first Western leader to call for Kadhafi’s removal, declaring the Libyan leader’s violent crackdown on civilians "unacceptable."
France was also the first country to recognise the National Transitional Council as Libya’s legitimate government. Kadhafi's regime fell later that year – the dictator was murdered in public by a lynch mob – ending his four-decade rule.
