Overview

• The Paris criminal court found Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of participating in a criminal association and acquitted him of passive corruption, illegal campaign financing and benefiting from misappropriated public funds.
• Judges issued a detention order that does not take immediate effect and set provisional enforcement, meaning he can be required to begin serving the sentence even if he appeals.
• The court said Libyan money flowed into France but concluded it could not prove the funds were used to finance Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign.
• Seven of eleven co-defendants were also convicted, including ex-Interior Minister Claude Guéant, who received six years, and Brice Hortefeux, who received two years, while former finance minister Éric Woerth was acquitted.
• Proceedings against alleged middleman Ziad Takieddine were discontinued following his death in custody in Beirut two days before the verdict.