Paris court finds former French President Sarkozy guilty of criminal conspiracy

Paris, Sep 25 (IANS) A court in Paris on Thursday found former French President Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of criminal conspiracy, in a case where he was on trial for allegedly accepting illegal campaign financing from the regime of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to secure win in 2007 election.

The court on Thursday, however, acquitted Sarkozy of passive corruption, embezzlement of Libyan public funds and illegal election campaign financing. The court stated that the criminal conspiracy charges pertain to his involvement in a group that orchestrated a corruption offence from 2005 to 2007, Euro News reported.

The court is still detailing its ruling and has not immediately sentenced Sarkozy who served as France's President between 2007-2012. Former French President can file an appeal against the court's ruling, which would suspend any sentence pending the outcome.

The Paris court's decision makes Sarkozy (70), the first French President of being convicted of such a high-level criminal offence. Prosecutors contended that Sarkozy funneled millions from Gadhafi's government into his campaign coffers, an accusation denied by Sarkozy during the three-month trial earlier this year. In the case, 11 co-defendants, including three former ministers have also been implicated.

Earlier in January, Sarkozy had said, "You will never find one Libyan euro, one Libyan cent in my campaign." He said that "groups of liars and crooks," including the "Gadhafi clan," have made allegations to investigators as part of a "plot".

"Revelations (from Libya) about the alleged financing of my campaign came a few hours after my statement that ‘Gadhafi must go'," former French President told the court, Euro News reported. He stated, "What credibility can be given to such statements marked by the seal of vengeance?"

The case emerged in 2011 when a Libyan news agency reported that the Gadhafi government had funded Sarkozy’s election campaign in 2007. Nicolas Sarkozy was one of the first Western leaders who pushed for military intervention in Libya in 2011, when pro-democracy protests erupted in the Arab world. Opposition fighters killed Gadhafi in October, 2011, ending his authoritarian 40-year rule of Libya.

--IANS

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