France: Police Detain Ex-President Sarkozy Over Libyan Campaign Financing Allegations

Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and Nicolas Sarkozy pictured in 2007. Photo: Patrick Hertzog/AFP/Getty Images

Ex-French President Nicolas Sarkozy was held in custody on Tuesday and questioned by magistrates investigating whether late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi helped finance his 2007 election campaign, an official in the French judiciary said.

The allegations have plagued Sarkozy ever since 2012, when a news website Mediapart published a document alleged to emanate from the former head of the Libyan secret services, promising Sarkozy some €50 million for his campaign.

France opened a judicial inquiry in 2013 into allegations that Sarkozy’s successful 2007 election bid benefited from illicit funds from late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. A former minister and close ally of Sarkozy, Brice Hortefeux, was also being questioned by police on Tuesday morning in relation to the Libya investigation, another source close to the probe said. 

Sarkozy, who served as president from 2007 to 2012, has always denied receiving any illicit campaign funding and has dismissed the Libyan allegations as “grotesque”.

Sarkozy has been dogged for years by political scandals, but none has led to a conviction.







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