Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to five years in prison, according to multiple reports from the BBC, The New York Times, The Guardian, and others.
Sarkozy was found guilty of criminal conspiracy after being accused of using illegal funds from Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi to finance his 2007 presidential campaign.
The former president, who led France from 2007 to 2012, allegedly promised Gaddafi that he would help enhance his reputation in Western countries in exchange for millions of euros in campaign funding.
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According to the BBC, the ruling means Sarkozy will serve time in jail even if he appeals the verdict. He was also ordered to pay a fine of €100,000 (approximately $117,000).
French outlet Le Monde reports that Sarkozy will be summoned within a month by the prosecutor’s office to be informed of his incarceration date, and an appeal will not suspend his sentence.
Judge Nathalie Gavarino determined that Sarkozy allowed close aides to contact Libyan officials to secure campaign finances, although the court found insufficient evidence to prove he personally benefited from these efforts.
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Sarkozy called the verdict an “incredible injustice,” adding, “If they absolutely want me to sleep in prison, I will sleep in prison, but with my head held high.”
Noting that he was cleared of three of the four charges, he said, “Those who hate me so much think they can humiliate me. What they have humiliated today is France, the image of France.”
Sarkozy will be the first former French president to serve time in prison. The BBC noted a “shocked intake of breath in court when the judge read out her sentence.”
Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the Italian supermodel and singer and Sarkozy’s wife, was previously charged with hiding evidence linked to the Gaddafi case and collaborating in fraud, which she has denied.
In 2012, Sarkozy lost his re-election bid to François Hollande, who served as president until 2017, before current President Emmanuel Macron took office.
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Since leaving office, Sarkozy has been involved in multiple criminal investigations. In February 2024, he was found guilty of overspending on his 2012 campaign and hiring a PR firm to cover it up—a decision he has appealed. In 2021, he was found guilty of attempting to bribe a judge, making him the first former French president to receive a custodial sentence, according to the BBC.
