Sarkozy Sentenced to Five Years Over Libya Funding

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced by a Paris court to five years in prison for criminal conspiracy over an alleged pact to secure Libyan funding for his 2007 presidential campaign. He was acquitted of corruption and of personally receiving illegal campaign financing, but was fined €100,000 and banned from holding public office. Prosecutors will notify him on October 13 when he must report to custody, and the court said the sentence will be enforced even if he appeals. The case centers on allegations that Sarkozy and aides negotiated tens of millions of euros from Muammar Gaddafi using intermediaries and suitcase cash deliveries. Sarkozy vowed to appeal and called the ruling an “injustice,” while supporters decried politicisation and proponents said the decision shows that no one is above the law.