Overview

• Sarkozy received a five-year prison sentence with a €100,000 fine, and prosecutors have up to one month to notify him to report to prison under the court’s provisional execution order.
• The conviction is for criminal association over allowing confidants to seek Libyan funds, while judges said the use of Libyan money in the 2007 campaign was not proven.
• Sarkozy said he will appeal and called the verdict an injustice, adding that he would sleep in prison with his head held high if required.
• Close aides faced mixed outcomes: Claude Guéant was sentenced to six years and Brice Hortefeux to two years, whereas Éric Woerth was acquitted.
• Evidence cited included testimonies from former Libyan officials, travel and transfer records, and notes attributed to ex–oil minister Shukri Ghanem, with the ruling coming days after the death of key accuser Ziad Takieddine.