Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to five years in prison for conspiracy in an investigation into Libyan funding for his 2007 presidential campaign.
According to the court, Sarkozy is guilty of allowing his associates to act to obtain financial support from Gaddafi's Libyan regime . Sarkozy was acquitted of corruption charges because, the court stated, "there is no evidence that Libyan funds ultimately reached the presidential campaign."
The president of the court also issued a "detention order," a first for a former president of the Republic , but it will be deferred. This means that Sarkozy will be summoned within a month by the prosecutor who will inform him of the date of his incarceration. The appeal, already announced by the former president, does not entail the suspension of the order.
According to judicial experts, Sarkozy is scheduled to enter the "Santé" prison in Paris in a few days. He will be held in the "vulnerable wing," the area of the prison where convicted celebrities, especially politicians, are mostly held.
The former president was present in the courtroom for the reading of the sentence, alongside his wife, Carla Bruni (they arrived holding hands), and the couple's three children. "I will sleep in prison, but with my head held high," Sarkozy said . "I will fight to the last breath to prove my innocence. Obviously, I will appeal the sentence."
“Those who hate me to this extent wanted to humiliate me,” he added, “but it is France they have humiliated.”
(Unioneonline)
