By Juliette Jabkhiro
PARIS (Reuters) – A defiant Nicolas Sarkozy told a Paris court on Thursday that allegations of illegal Libyan financing of his successful 2007 presidential bid were a “conspiracy” and that not a single cent of Libyan cash would ever be found in his campaign.
Sarkozy, who was president of France from 2007 to 2012, is accused by prosecutors of having made a pact with Libya’s late strongman Muammar Gaddafi to receive millions of euros in clandestine funding.
He faces charges including concealing the embezzlement of public funds, illegal campaign financing and criminal conspiracy and risks up to 10 years in jail if found guilty.
“You will never, never find a Libyan euro, not even a Libyan cent in my campaign,” Sarkozy told judges in his opening statement to the court.
The trial follows more than a decade of investigations.
Financial prosecutors say that in 2005, Sarkozy, then France’s interior minister, brokered a deal with Gaddafi, to obtain campaign financing in exchange for helping to ease the international isolation of the Tripoli government.
Gaddafi was deposed and then killed in 2011.
Investigative judges launched a probe in 2013 after French investigative website Mediapart published what it said was a note from Libyan intelligence services dated Dec. 2006 that mentioned Gaddafi’s alleged deal to help finance Sarkozy’s presidential race.
“It’s a conspiracy,” Sarkozy told the court, describing the note as “a crude forgery”.
Sarkozy, 69, said he wanted judges to hear his outrage and sincerity, saying that after 10 years the investigators had been unable to trace the alleged millions.
‘THERE IS NO CORRUPTION’
“The corruption money is the great missing piece of the trial, because there is no corruption,” Sarkozy said.
French human rights and anti-corruption NGO Sherpa, which is a plaintiff in the case, questioned Sarkozy’s legal strategy of alleging a conspiracy theory against him
“While it may make sense in the very short term… it could be undermined by careful examination of all the evidence in the weeks to come,” Vincent Brengarth, a lawyer for Sherpa, told Reuters.
Among the 12 others facing trial in the case are Sarkozy’s former right-hand man Claude Gueant, former Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux and his then-head of campaign financing Eric Woerth.
Hortefeux and Gueant both told judges on Thursday they had done nothing wrong.
Sarkozy has in recent years faced a raft of legal battles, including a conviction for corruption and influence peddling for which he has been ordered to wear an electronic bracelet for a year instead of going to jail.
If found guilty in this case, Sarkozy could face up to 10 years in prison and 375,000 euros ($386,000) in fines.
The trial is scheduled to last until April 10.
(Reporting by Juliette Jabkhiro; editing by Richard Lough and Gareth Jones)
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