Paris has witnessed a political earthquake. On September 25, 2025, a French court convicted former president Nicolas Sarkozy of criminal conspiracy in connection with allegations that his 2007 election campaign was secretly financed by Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya. The ruling has stunned France, not just for its political significance but because it marks the first time a former French head of state has been sentenced to serve prison time.
A Long-Running Scandal
The “Gaddafi cash” affair has haunted Sarkozy for over a decade. French investigators began probing claims that millions of euros were funnelled from Tripoli to Sarkozy’s campaign through clandestine channels. Businessman Ziad Takieddine famously alleged that he carried suitcases stuffed with cash from Libya to France. Other documents and testimonies suggested that as much as €50 million may have been promised by Gaddafi’s regime, well above the legal campaign finance limit in France.
Sarkozy has always denied the accusations, dismissing them as fabrications designed to destroy his career. “I have never betrayed the trust of the French people,” he said in earlier court appearances. But the judges concluded otherwise, ruling that there was sufficient evidence to convict him of entering into a conspiracy with Libyan officials and French intermediaries.
The Verdict
The Paris court handed Sarkozy a five-year prison sentence, ordering that it be enforced immediately despite his right to appeal. He was also fined €100,000. Two of his closest allies- former ministers Claude Guéant and Brice Hortefeux, were also found guilty and given shorter sentences.
The judges stopped short of convicting Sarkozy for direct receipt of illegal funds, saying the money trail remained murky. Instead, they found him guilty of criminal conspiracy, noting that the arrangement itself, regardless of whether every euro reached his campaign- was enough to break French law.
A President Under Siege
This conviction is the latest blow to Sarkozy’s legacy. In 2021, he was found guilty in a separate corruption case, the so-called “wiretapping affair,” and sentenced to three years, though he served that term at home with an electronic tag. Last year, France’s highest court upheld that conviction, leaving him already tainted before the Libya ruling.
With this new sentence, Sarkozy faces the prospect of actual prison time, a stark fall for a man who once strode the international stage alongside leaders like Angela Merkel and Barack Obama.
Reactions and Consequences
Sarkozy’s legal team immediately announced plans to appeal, calling the judgment “an injustice built on unreliable witnesses and political vendettas.” Yet the court’s unusual order to enforce the sentence during the appeal makes this a more precarious fight than before.
For many in France, the case has become a litmus test of whether the justice system can truly hold the powerful to account. Supporters see the verdict as proof that no one is above the law. Critics, particularly within Sarkozy’s conservative camp, argue that the judiciary has overreached.
What remains certain is that Sarkozy’s once-bright hopes of playing kingmaker in French politics have dimmed dramatically. The man who rode to power on a message of law and order now finds himself on the other side of the bars.
