"Judges in Paris issued a guilty verdict on some charges on Thursday in the corruption trial of France's ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy. Sentencing is likely to occurr later on Thursday. He faces up to seven years in prison. Sarkozy, who was in office from 2007 to 2012, was accused of accepting campaign contributions from the late Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi via Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine."
"Takieddine, the key accuser in the case, died on Tuesday in Beirut. He claimed he passed Sarkozy's chief of staff a total of 5 million ($6 million) in cash between 2006 and 2007. He alleged that in return, Sarkozy was supposed to help rehabilitate Gadhafi's image abroad at a time when few wanted to deal with the Libyan dictator, widely seen as the orchestrator of the 1988 Lockerbie airplane bombing."
"The court found Sarkozy guilty of criminal conspiracy, but cleared him of passive corruption and other illegal financing charges. Twists and turns in Sarkozy case The case then went through a series of twists and turns as Takieddine retracted his accusation, then retracted his retraction. Accused alongside the Sarkozys are 11 other co-defendants. These include Sarkozy's former chief aide, Claude Gueant; chief of campaign financing, Eric Woerth; and former minister Brice Hortefeux."
Judges in Paris convicted former president Nicolas Sarkozy of criminal conspiracy in a corruption case linked to alleged Libyan campaign payments. Sentencing is expected later, and he faces up to seven years in prison. Prosecutors accused him of receiving cash from Moammar Gadhafi via businessman Ziad Takieddine, who said he passed 5 million euros to Sarkozy’s chief of staff in 2006–2007 and later died in Beirut. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is accused of pressuring witnesses. The court cleared Sarkozy of passive corruption and other illegal financing counts. Eleven co-defendants, including Claude Gueant, Eric Woerth and Brice Hortefeux, deny the charges. The prosecution relied on testimony from former Libyan officials, aides’ Libya trips, and notes linked to former oil minister Shukri Ghanem.
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