Sarkozy Insists on Innocence in Last Day of Appeal Trial in Libya Case
- On Wednesday, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy's lawyers delivered closing arguments before the Paris Court of Appeal, concluding more than two months of hearings as Sarkozy maintained there was "not a single cent of Libyan money" in his 2007 campaign.
- French prosecutors requested seven years in prison and a five-year office ban, characterizing Sarkozy as the "instigator" of a corruption pact; Sarkozy became modern France's first former president jailed when he spent 20 days in La Santé prison last year pending this appeal.
- Central to prosecutors' case is Abdallah Senoussi, whose 1989 UTA DC-10 bombing role killed 170 people including 54 French nationals, while Sarkozy's former aide Claude Guéant weakened the defense by confirming a 2005 Senoussi meeting and recalling a 2007 Tripoli dinner where Sarkozy allegedly told him "Claude, sort this out."
- Court of Appeal President Olivier Géron will deliver the judgment on November 30, with the ruling determining Sarkozy's legal fate and his place in French political history; an acquittal would vindicate his persecution claims, while conviction would permanently tarnish his presidency.
- The core dispute centers on whether prosecutors' pattern of Libya contacts proves criminal conspiracy or merely political dealings; the first trial found no direct Libyan funding but convicted Sarkozy for allowing aides to seek Gaddafi regime support across 10 defendants.
47 Articles
47 Articles
Sarkozy insists on innocence in last day of appeal trial in Libya case
The former president has faced multiple corruption cases in recent years, but the Libya case carries by far the heaviest political and symbolic weight, alleging that a foreign dictatorship helped bring a French president to power.
On the last day of his appeal, the former Head of State took the floor one last time to reaffirm his innocence.
The trial on appeal of the alleged Libyan financing of Nicolas Sarkozy's campaign was completed on Wednesday. The verdict will be delivered on 30 November. ...
Nicolas Sarkozy and his lawyers burned his last bullets to defend his innocence this Wednesday. After two and a half months of hearings, the appeal trial to the president of France between 2007 and 2012 for the grim Libyan plot was completed at the Paris Court. The former conservative president faces a possible seven-year prison sentence for allegedly financing his 2007 presidential campaign with petrodollars from the Muammar el Gaddafi dictator…
Is Sarkozy going to jail again? At least that's what the charges in the Libyan affair demand. The defense is trying to draw a contrasting picture. "I'm innocent," says Sarko.
The lawyers of the former President of the Republic close the trial, on appeal, on the suspicions of Libyan financing of the 2007 presidential campaign.
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