A look at the legal cases filed against France's former President Sarkozy

PARIS — France’s former President Nicolas Sarkozy goes on trial Monday over allegations he received millions from Libya for his 2007 successful presidential campaign, in the latest — and biggest — of a series of legal cases involving him.

This comes after his conviction in a corruption case was made definitive by France’s highest court last month.

Sarkozy, 69, was France’s president from 2007 to 2012. He retired from active politics in 2017.

The former president has denied any wrongdoing.

Here’s a look at the legal proceedings.

Alleged Libya financing

Sarkozy, along with 11 others, is accused of having received millions for his 2007 presidential campaign in illegal financing from the government of then-Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Sarkozy has been under investigation in the case since 2013. He is charged with passive corruption, illegal campaign financing, embezzlement of Libyan public funds and criminal association. The trial is scheduled to run until April 10.

Investigators examined claims that Gadhafi’s government secretly agreed to give Sarkozy up to 50 million euros ($51.6 million) for his 2007 campaign. The sum was more than double the legal campaign funding limit at the time, violating French rules.

The investigation gained traction when French-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine told news site Mediapart in 2016 that he had delivered suitcases from Libya containing 5 million euros (about $5.1 million) in cash to Sarkozy and his former chief of staff. Takieddine later withdrew the allegation and Sarkozy sought to have the inquiry closed.

After becoming president in 2007, Sarkozy welcomed Gadhafi to France with high honors later that year. Sarkozy then put France at the forefront of NATO-led airstrikes that helped rebel fighters topple Gadhafi’s government in 2011.

Accusations of witness tampering

French investigative judges filed preliminary charges in 2023 against Sarkozy for his alleged involvement in an attempt to mislead magistrates in order to clear him in the Libya financing case.

Financial prosecutors said Sarkozy is suspected of “benefitting from corruptly influencing a witness,” in reference to Takieddine.

Sarkozy’s wife, former supermodel Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, was given preliminary charges in July last year for alleged involvement in efforts to pressure Takieddine. Bruni-Sarkozy was placed under judicial supervision, which includes a ban on contact with all those involved in the proceedings except for her husband.

Wiretapping scandal

France’s Court of Cassation on Dec. 18 upheld an appeal court decision that had found Sarkozy guilty of corruption and influence peddling while he was the country’s head of state.

Sarkozy has been sentenced to a year in prison but is entitled to be detained at home with an electronic bracelet as provided by French law.

He said he would bring the case to the European Court of Human Rights.

Sarkozy was first found guilty in 2021 by a Paris court, a verdict confirmed in 2023 by an appeals court, for trying to bribe a magistrate in exchange for information about a legal case in which he was implicated. The case was revealed through wiretapped phone conversations during the Libya financing investigation.

Convicted for illegal campaign financing

In February last year, an appeals court in Paris upheld a guilty verdict against Sarkozy for illegal campaign financing in his failed 2012 reelection bid. He was sentenced to a year in prison, of which six months were suspended.

The former president is accused of having spent almost twice the maximum legal amount of 22.5 million euros on the reelection bid that he lost to Socialist Francois Hollande.

Sarkozy has denied all allegations and appealed to the highest Court of Cassation in that case.