Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was found guilty of criminal conspiracy in a case centered on allegations he accepted illegal campaign money from the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
In a high-profile, three-month-long trial, prosecutors alleged that Sarkozy funneled millions of dollars from the Libyan government into his campaign coffers; he was acquitted of further charges of embezzlement and corruption. Sarkozy was later sentenced to five years in prison; he is expected to appeal.
The conviction puts Sarkozy in good company among fellow former presidents of the Fifth Republic: Jacques Chirac was found guilty of embezzlement in 2011; François Mitterrand used illegal wiretaps; François Fillon was jailed for misuse of public funds; and Sarkozy himself was previously convicted in 2021 for a separate campaign finance violation.