Paris, France – On Thursday, the French judiciary will issue its ruling in a corruption case in which former President Nicolas Sarkozy faces charges of receiving millions of euros from the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to help finance his 2007 election campaign.
Prosecutors are seeking a seven-year prison sentence against Sarkozy, who served as president from 2007 to 2012.
Sarkozy can appeal if a conviction is issued, which will likely lead to the suspension of his sentence.
The 70-year-old former president has been on trial since January on charges of “covering up the embezzlement of public funds, illegal financing of an election campaign, and criminal conspiracy with the aim of committing a crime”.
Investigators say he concluded a corruption agreement with the Libyan government.
It concerns a mysterious case reportedly involving Libyan agents, a convicted terrorist and arms dealers.
In addition to accusations that Gaddafi supplied Sarkozy’s campaign with millions of euros that were shipped to Paris in suitcases.
Sarkozy has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and says the case is fabricated and politically motivated.
Sarkozy remains an influential figure on the French political scene.
This is despite legal problems and his being stripped in June of the Legion of Honor, France’s highest honor.
Sarkozy has been facing legal battles since leaving office.
France’s highest court last year upheld his conviction for corruption and influence peddling.
She also ordered him to wear an electronic bracelet for a year, a first for a French president.
The bracelet has now been removed.
Also last year, an appeals court upheld a separate conviction on charges of illegal campaign financing related to his unsuccessful bid for re-election in 2012.
