Ex-French president Nicolas Sarkozy goes on trial over claims Libya’s Gaddafi financed his campaign

France’s former president Nicolas Sarkozy has gone on trial over allegations of having received millions from Libya’s former dictator Moammar Gaddafi to finance his 2007 presidential campaign.

Sarkozy, who was president of France between 2007 and 2012, arrived at the court in Paris to face what is considered to be the biggest scandal to engulf the former leader yet.

Sarkozy, who has already been convicted in two other cases, faces charges of passive corruption, illegal campaign financing, concealment of embezzlement of public funds and criminal association, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

The 69-year-old, who is married to former supermodel Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, has denied any wrongdoing.

Sarkozy is looking forward to the hearings “with determination”, his lawyer Christophe Ingrain said in a statement.

“There is no Libyan financing of the campaign,” the statement said. “We want to believe the court will have the courage to examine the facts objectively, without being guided by the nebulous theory that poisoned the investigation.”

Anti-corruption groups Sherpa, Anticor and Transparency International joined the proceedings, stressing in a statement that “this alleged illegal financing shows the mechanisms of cross-border corruption, which deprives civilian populations of essential public resources by siphoning funds for the benefit of private and political interests”.

They added: “It is important that the issue of the victims of corruption is not left out of this trial.”

The trial involves 11 other defendants, including three former ministers.

Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine, accused of having played the role of intermediary, has fled to Lebanon and did not appear at the Paris court.

‘It’s thanks to us he’s president’

The case emerged in March 2011, when a Libyan news agency reported that the Gaddafi government had financed Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign.

In an interview, Gaddafi himself said “it’s thanks to us that he reached the presidency. We provided him with the funds that allowed him to win”, without providing any amount or other details.

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Gaddafi, who governed Libya for four decades, was killed after the Arab Spring pro-democracy protests reached the north African country in 2011.

The next year, French online news site Mediapart published a document said to be a note from the Libyan secret services, mentioning Gaddafi’s agreement to provide Sarkozy’s campaign with €50m in financing.

Sarkozy strongly rejected the accusations, calling the document a “blatant fake” and filing complaints for forgery, concealment and spreading false news.

But French investigative magistrates eventually said in 2016 the document has all the characteristics of authenticity, although there is no definitive evidence that such a transaction took place.

The official cost for Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign was €20m.

Sarkozy convicted in two other cases

France’s highest court, the Court of Cassation, last month upheld a conviction against Sarkozy of corruption and influence peddling while he was the head of state. He was sentenced to one year under house arrest with an electronic bracelet.

In February last year, an appeals court in Paris found Sarkozy guilty of illegal campaign financing in his failed 2012 re-election bid.