Paris - Brussels: Europe and the Arabs

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy reiterated his innocence after a Paris criminal court sentenced him on Thursday to five years in prison for criminal conspiracy in a case involving allegations that former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi financed his 2007 election campaign. Sarkozy, 70, announced an appeal.

The court ordered Sarkozy to be detained at a date to be determined later, giving prosecutors a month to inform the former president of his imprisoned date. The court stated that this measure would remain in effect even if Sarkozy appealed.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy heard the court's verdict on Thursday in one of the most controversial political trials in recent decades. He is suspected of receiving millions of euros from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to finance his 2007 presidential campaign. The French prosecutor's office is seeking a seven-year prison sentence, a €300,000 fine, and a five-year disqualification from elections. According to Brussels media, citing the Belgian news agency, the prosecutor's office stated that, in exchange for money, Sarkozy contributed to Libya's international rehabilitation and worked to exonerate Abdullah al-Senussi, Gaddafi's son-in-law convicted of the deadly 1989 attack on a UTA DC-10. Prosecutors describe the case as a "Faustian corruption pact" with one of the most controversial leaders of the past 30 years.
Sarkozy, who was president from 2007 to 2012, denies all charges against him and describes the requested sentence as "disproportionate" and an attempt to "mask the weaknesses of the case." He is being tried on charges of passive corruption, receiving stolen public funds, illegally financing an electoral campaign, and participating in a criminal organization.
The death of Ziad Takieddine, a key figure in the case, last Tuesday in Lebanon, did not alter the course of the trial. The verdict was delivered Thursday in a Paris court. Sarkozy was present. Twelve defendants
The three-month trial involved twelve defendants, including Claude Guéant and Brice Hortefeux, two of Sarkozy's close associates. The case is based on years of investigation, testimony, and documents, including notes from Libyan officials and statements from Takieddine himself, who claimed to have transferred millions of euros in cash to Sarkozy and his entourage.