A Paris court sentenced former French president Nicolas Sarkozy to five years in prison on Thursday after finding him guilty of criminal conspiracy tied to alleged Libyan financing of his 2007 election campaign. He was acquitted of passive corruption and illegal campaign financing but fined €100,000.
Judge Nathalie Gavarino said Sarkozy allowed close aides to seek funds from officials of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The court ruled there was insufficient evidence that Sarkozy personally received illegal campaign money.
Sarkozy, 70, said he would appeal, calling the verdict “extremely serious for the rule of law.” The ruling requires him to serve time in custody even if he challenges it, making him the first former French president set to be jailed. “If they absolutely want me to sleep in jail, I will sleep in jail, but with my head held high,” he told reporters.
The probe opened in 2013 after Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam alleged Sarkozy took millions from Tripoli. In 2014, businessman Ziad Takieddine claimed payments totaled around €50 million and continued after Sarkozy took office.
Among co-defendants, former interior ministers Claude Guéant and Brice Hortefeux were found guilty—Guéant of corruption among other charges, and Hortefeux of criminal conspiracy. Sarkozy’s wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, was charged in 2024 with hiding evidence and association to commit fraud; she denies wrongdoing.
Sarkozy faces other legal troubles. He is appealing a February 2024 conviction over overspending in his failed 2012 re-election bid, and he received a custodial sentence in 2021 for attempting to bribe a judge—later allowed to be served at home under electronic monitoring.