3 hours agoNicolas Sarkozy was found guilty of criminal conspiracy in Libya-related trial
Periskopi(9 months ago)
(9 months ago)Former French President Nicolas Sarcozy has been convicted of criminal conspiracy in a trial in which he and his assistants were charged with linking an alleged corruption pact with the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddhafi to receive funds for the 2007 French presidential campaign. But Sarkozy was [...]
But Sarkozy was acquitted of three other charges, including passive corruption and illegal campaign financing, writes The Guardian, broadcasting Express, Periscope
As tribunal chief Natalie Gvarino continued to read the verdict Thursday, Sarkozy was found guilty of criminal conspiracy, but was acquitted of corruption charges, misuse of Libyan public funds and illegal financing of the election campaign. The sentence has not yet been announced.
Sarkozy, who had denied all violations in court, is expected to appeal immediately.
Prosecutors had told the court that Sarcozy and his assistants drafted a “amount of corruption” with Gaddafi and the Libyan regime in 2005 to illegally finance the winning candidacy of the Sarkozy presidential election two years later.
The court had heard that in exchange for the money, the Libyan regime demanded diplomatic, legal and business favour and understood that Sarkozy would rehabilitate Gaddafi's international image. The Libyan autocratic leader, whose 41-year brutal rule was marked by human rights violations, was isolated internationally due to his regime's connection to terrorism, including the bombing of Pan Am's 103 over Lockerbie flight in Scotland in December 1988.
Sarcozy's associates were accused by prosecutors of meeting with members of the Gaddafi regime in Libya in 2005, when Sarkozy was interior minister.
Shortly after becoming president of France in 2007, Sarkozy invited the Libyan leader for a long state visit to Paris, setting up his Bedouine tent in gardens near the Élysée Palace.
Sarkozy was the first Western leader to host Gaddafi on a full state visit since the freeze of relations in the 1980s due to his status as exempt as sponsor of state terrorism.
But in 2011, Sarkozy put France at the forefront of NATO-led air strikes against Gaddafi's troops, which helped rebel fighters overthrow his regime. Gaddafi was captured by the rebels in October 2011 and killed.
The charges of a secret campaign financing pact with the Libyan regime had been the largest corruption trial Sarkozy, 70, faced, who was right-wing president from 2007 to 2012. He has already been sentenced on two separate occasions and stripped of France's highest decoration, the Legion of Honor.
