Overview

• Sarkozy was found guilty of criminal conspiracy tied to efforts to seek Libyan money for his 2007 campaign and was acquitted of passive corruption, illegal campaign financing and concealment of embezzled funds.
• Judges said he allowed close associates and intermediaries to pursue Libyan backing, but they did not convict him of personally committing the alleged financing offenses.
• Former ministers Claude Guéant and Brice Hortefeux were also convicted of criminal association on parts of the case, while former campaign finance chief Éric Woerth was acquitted.
• Prosecutors sought a seven-year prison term; reporting on any sentence conflicted at press time, and an appeal by Sarkozy is expected, which would ordinarily suspend enforcement.
• Key accuser Ziad Takieddine died in Beirut two days before the verdict after years of shifting testimony, a backdrop to a separate witness‑tampering probe involving Sarkozy and his wife that remains under investigation.