A Paris Court on Thursday jailed former French President Nicolas Sarkozy on charges of criminal conspiracy but acquitted him of corruption.
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to five years in jail over a “criminal conspiracy” plot involving some $50 million in laundered cash from Colonel Gaddafi.
Judges sitting at the Paris Correctional Court ruled that the the cash from the late Libyan dictator helped Sarkozy, now 70, with his electioneering.
It followed a three-month trial that ended in April, and which also involved 11 other defendants,, including three of Sarkozy’s former ministers.
Sarkozy was acquitted of “receiving stolen public funds” and passive corruption”.
But he has been handed the maximum sentence possible for conspiracy with former ministers including ex-chief of staff, Claude Gueant, now 80, who was found guilty of “passive bribery, forgery, and influence peddling”.
Any appeal by Sarkozy will not alter his forth coming prison sentence, the Judge said.
He will also have to pay a fine of €100,000 (£87,000), while the date for the start of his jail term is being set.
Gueant was sentenced to six years on prison, but the court took into account the 80- year-old’s ill health, which was “incompatible with incarceration”
Gueant was also fined Euro 250,000, while Brice Hortefeux, another Sarkozy Minister, was sentenced to two years wearing an electronic bracelet.
The historic judge against a former President of France follows Judge Nathalie Gavarino saying Sarkozy’s crimes were “exceptionally serious”.
She ruled that Sarkozy was guilty of having “allowed his close associates to act with a view to obtaining financing support from the Libyan regime”.
It is the first time that former French head of state has been found guilty of trying to use foreign money in such a manner.
-9News Nigeria.
