The former leader, 70, was found guilty of criminal conspiracy, but not guilty of passive corruption, illegal campaign financing, and concealing the embezzlement of public funds.The three-month court case in Paris was over the alleged illegal financing of Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential election campaign by the government of late Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi.
In a surprise move, the judge said he would be jailed regardless of whether he appeals the verdict, which usually suspends sentencing. He was not sent straight to prison, however, with the start date of his sentence yet to be decided.
Sarkozy still vowed to appeal regardless, telling reporters outside court on Thursday: “This injustice is a scandal.
“I ask the French people – whether they voted for me or not, whether they support me or not – to grasp what has just happened. Hatred truly knows no bounds.”
The ruling undermines confidence in the French justice system, he added, before vowing to “fight right until the end” to “prove his innocence in this affair”.
“If they absolutely want me to sleep in jail, I will sleep in jail, but with my head held high,” he concluded.The sentence means that he will be imprisoned whether he launches an appeal or not. The judge also ordered that he pay a €100,000 fine.
Prosecutors alleged that Sarkozy, who has always denied the charges, made a deal with Gaddafi in 2005, when he was France’s interior minister, to obtain campaign financing in exchange for supporting the then-isolated Libyan government on the international stage.
The court found Sarkozy guilty of criminal association in a scheme from 2005 to 2007 to finance his campaign with funds from Libya in exchange for diplomatic favours. But it cleared him of three other charges – including passive corruption, illegal campaign financing and concealment of the embezzlement of public funds.
