The national financial prosecutor’s office requested seven years in prison and a fine of 300,000 euros against Nicolas Sarkozy in the trial on the Libyan financing case. The former head of state and his lawyers denounce this decision.
The requisitions are historical. The national financial prosecutor’s office requested seven years in prison and a fine of 300,00 euros against Nicolas Sarkozy in the Libyan funding case this Thursday, March 27. Judged for “illegal financing of electoral campaign”, “passive corruption”, “concealment of embezzlement of public funds” and “association of criminals”, the former President of the Republic is the one who has occupied the heaviest requisitions among the 11 defendants. Sentence ranging from one to six years’ imprisonment have been required against other people tried.
From the start of his requisitions, Tuesday, March 25, the prosecutor presented Nicolas Sarkozy as the “sponsor” of a “unknown, unreed, indecent, indecent, indecent pact […] Concluded with a bloodthirsty regime “aimed” for financially supporting the presidential campaign “Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007. He asked that the former head of state be found guilty of all the counts.
Never have such heavy sentences have been requested against a former President of the Republic, but for the lawyers of Nicolas Sarkozy the latter are disproportionate. “The hearing has shown that the presidential campaign had not been funded by Libyan money. She demonstrated that Nicolas Sarkozy never asked for the slightest funding from Muammar Gaddafi. No trace of Libyan funding has been demonstrated,” insisted Me Jean-Michel Darrois. The lawyer believes that “the national financial prosecutor’s office asked very heavy sentences to try to compensate for the weakness of his arguments” after having qualified proof of “false document”.
“I will continue to fight”
The other lawyer for Nicolas Sarkozy, Me Christophe Ungrain, evokes “completely above-ground” sorrows. As for the reaction of his client to requisitions, the lawyer indicates that “given the very harsh words and the illegitimate accusations brought against him, [Nicolas Sarkozy] expected something from excessive sentence and without any basis. “
Nicolas Sarkozy did not speak when he left the court, but he reacted in a press release published on his social networks. “I will continue to fight foot in the truth, and to believe in the wisdom of the court,” he wrote. True to his defense, the politician has reaffirmed to be innocent and believes that the trial proved him: “After three months of hearing, it is acquired that there was no money used in my 2007 campaign (or in a minimal way and without any connection with Libya).”
The former President of the Republic will be able to defend himself again with the help of his lawyers during the resumption of the pleadings scheduled for April 8. The trial of the Libyan funding case is not yet over and the defendants’ lawyers intend to take advantage of the next few weeks “to show that these requisitions sound hollow” said Christophe Ungrain. The verdict in this case will not be known for several weeks, even several months, by then Nicolas Sarkozy remains presumed innocent despite the requisitions.