FILE PHOTO: Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy walks, as he attends his trial with twelve other defendants on charges of corruption and illegal financing of an election campaign related to alleged Libyan funding of his successful 2007 presidential bid, at the courthouse in Paris, France, March 27, 2025. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/ File Photo
PARIS (Reuters) -Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced to five years in jail on Thursday for criminal conspiracy over attempts to raise campaign funds from Libya, a spectacular downfall for the conservative who led France from 2007-2012.
The sentence, which will soon make Sarkozy the first post-war president of France to be imprisoned, was harsher than many expected and stunned allies and foes alike.
