Overview

• Siad Takieddine, 75, died in Beirut, his lawyer told AFP.
• The French-Lebanese businessman had said he ferried up to €5 million in cash to Sarkozy’s circle in 2006–2007 before retracting the claim in 2020.
• The court is scheduled to deliver a verdict on Thursday in the case against Nicolas Sarkozy and 11 co-defendants.
• Prosecutors previously requested seven years in prison and a €300,000 fine for Sarkozy, asserting the existence of a corruption pact with Gaddafi.
• Sarkozy denies all allegations and has called Takieddine a “great manipulator,” while authorities had an arrest warrant for the businessman, who had a prior corruption conviction in France.