- Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential campaign allegedly received up to €50 million in illegal funding from Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya.
- French investigators gathered evidence including witness testimony and financial records pointing to covert cash transfers.
- Sarkozy was convicted of criminal conspiracy in 2025, becoming the first modern French president sentenced to prison over campaign financing.
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been found guilty of criminal conspiracy and sentenced to five years in prison for colluding with Muammar Gaddafi’s regime to illegally finance his 2007 election campaign.
Under special sentencing rules, Sarkozy must begin serving his term even if he appeals, making him the first modern French head of state to be jailed. He was also fined €100,000.
Declaring his innocence, Sarkozy called the ruling politically motivated and said he would “sleep in jail with my head held high.” His former campaign chief Claude Guéant and other co-defendants were also convicted, though he was acquitted of corruption and illegal campaign funding charges.
The Sarkozy–Libya funding case centers on allegations that Nicolas Sarkozy’s successful 2007 presidential campaign was illegally financed with millions of euros from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The claims first surfaced in 2011, after Gaddafi’s regime collapsed during the Arab Spring. By 2012, French media reports suggested that up to €50 million may have been funneled from Tripoli to Paris, far exceeding France’s legal campaign spending limits.
Over the following years, French investigators collected evidence including financial records, intercepted communications, and testimony from Libyan officials and intermediaries. Several witnesses claimed that cash-filled suitcases were delivered to Sarkozy’s inner circle to help bankroll his campaign. These allegations pointed to a covert network linking Sarkozy’s aides to senior figures in Gaddafi’s government.
In 2018, Sarkozy was formally charged with corruption, illegal campaign financing, and benefiting from embezzled Libyan public funds. While some charges did not hold, prosecutors pressed forward on the criminal conspiracy case, arguing that Sarkozy and his team orchestrated a deliberate scheme to solicit and conceal Libyan money.
The case has had major political consequences. Sarkozy, who has always denied the accusations and insists the proceedings are politically motivated, is now the first modern French president convicted and sentenced to prison over campaign financing. The scandal has overshadowed his legacy, damaged his post-presidency ambitions, and highlighted the darker side of international political alliances.