- Title: French prosecutors seek seven years' jail for Sarkozy for taking Libyan money
- Date: 27th March 2025
- Summary: Firefighting helicopters were seen waterbombing a mountainside in South Korea's Cheongsong county on Thursday. (1987-SOUTHKOREA-FIRE/CHEONGSONG) CHEONGSONG COUNTY, SOUTH KOREA (MARCH 27, 2025) (REUTERS) SMOKE SMOULDERING ON MOUNTAINSIDE HELICOPTER FLYING HELICOPTER FLYING OVER MOUNTAINSIDE, WATERBOMBING MOUNTAINSIDE SMOKE SMOULDERING ON MOUNTAINSIDE HELICOPTER FLYING PAST
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- Keywords: France Libya Sarkozy illegal campaign financing presidential election
- Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
- City: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
- Country: France
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Europe,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA002218727032025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Financial prosecutors requested on Thursday (March 27) that former French president Nicolas Sarkozy be sentenced to seven years in prison and to pay a 300,00-euro fine over the alleged Libyan financing of his successful 2007 presidential campaign.
Sarkozy, accused of having received millions of euros in illegal financing from Libya's late strongman Muammar Gaddafi, has been on trial since January on charges of "concealment of embezzlement of public funds, passive corruption, illegal campaign financing and criminal conspiracy with a view to committing a crime."
Prosecutor Sebastien de La Touanne described the accusations against Sarkozy and the 12 other defendants as "high-intensity corruption," telling the courtroom: "It's a very dark picture of a part of our republic that has emerged."
The prosecutor said Sarkozy had concluded "a Faustian corruption pact with one of the most unsavoury dictators of the past 30 years."
Prosecutors also requested Sarkozy be barred from running for office and exercising certain privileges for five years.
In addition to the request for Sarkozy, prosecutors requested between one year and six years in prison and fines totaling as much as 150,000 euros for Sarkozy's former right-hand man Claude Gueant, former Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux and his then-head of campaign financing Eric Woerth.
The centre-right former president has been embroiled in several legal battles since leaving office in 2012.
Last year, France's highest court upheld a conviction against Sarkozy for corruption and influence peddling, ordering him to wear an electronic tag for a year, in a first for a former head of state of the country.
An appeals court last year confirmed a separate conviction against Sarkozy of illegal campaign financing over his failed 2012 re-election bid. He has appealed that decision to France's top court, which is expected to issue a ruling sometime this year.
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