Ten years of investigation, 54 searches, 22 appeals, 73 procedural volumes. And above all 12 defendants, including three former right-wing ministers and a former head of state. From this Monday, the courts are looking into the case of suspicions of Libyan financing of Nicolas Sarkozy's presidential campaign in 2007. For 13 weeks, the judges will try to identify the complex mechanisms put in place by people close to the former President of the Republic, with his approval, to spend the money that Muammar Gaddafi would have given him in exchange for French “returns”.
A “fable”, according to Nicolas Sarkozy who disputes the accusations. During an interrogation, he estimated that there was “not even the beginnings of proof”. As this sprawling trial begins, 20 Minutes explains everything to you.
What are the main dates of the case?
- Mars 2011. A Libyan press agency indicates that the Tripoli regime is preparing to reveal “a secret likely to endanger the political career of the French head of state”. A few days later, Muammar Gaddafi and his son, Saïf Al Islam, claimed in the press that Libya had financed Nicolas Sarkozy's presidential campaign in 2007.
- Mars 2012. The Mediapart site publishes a document presented as a “note” from the Libyan secret services. It indicates that the Libyan dictator would have given his agreement to pay 50 million euros to the man who was, from June 2005 to March 2007, Jacques Chirac's Minister of the Interior. Nicolas Sarkozy files a complaint. But the investigation for “forgery” will result, in 2019, in a definitive dismissal of the case.
- December 2012. Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine claims before the judge investigating the Karachi case that he has proof of this Libyan financing of Nicolas Sarkozy's presidential campaign.
- January 2013. The Paris prosecutor's office opens a preliminary investigation.
- Avril 2013. A judicial investigation is opened against X and transmitted to the National Financial Prosecutor's Office.
- Mars 2018. Nicolas Sarkozy is indicted for “corruption”, “concealment of embezzlement of public funds [libyens] » and “illicit campaign financing”. He is placed under judicial supervision.
- October 2020. The former president is indicted for “criminal association”.
- May 2023. The National Financial Prosecutor's Office requires the referral of the 13 defendants – one has since died – to the criminal court
- August 2023. The two investigating judges sign the referral order.
What does justice blame Nicolas Sarkozy for?
The former head of state, now aged 69, is on trial for “concealment of embezzlement of public funds”, “passive corruption”, “illegal financing of an electoral campaign”, “criminal association”. He is suspected of having entered into a “corruption pact” with the Libyan dictator. According to the order for reference, consulted by 20 MinutesMuammar Gaddafi would have financed his presidential campaign in 2007 with public funds in exchange for “quid pro quo”:
- “diplomatic”: “Libya’s return to the international scene”
- “economic”: “contract for surveillance equipment for Libyan territory”, “commitment to civil nuclear power”, “oil exploitation contract” for the company Total
- “legal”: the former president would have promised to lift the arrest warrant for Abdallah Senoussi, the brother-in-law of the “guide of the Libyan Revolution”
Nicolas Sarkozy is also suspected of having, “with full knowledge of the facts”, allowed relatives to act “as intermediaries”. “Sometimes official”, “sometimes unofficial” contacts with the Libyan authorities.
-Who are the other main defendants?
Three former right-wing ministers will be seated in the dock, suspected of having played intermediaries:
- Claude Guéant79, is on trial for having “taken an active, even essential, part in the establishment and organization of illegal financial support for the 2007 presidential campaign,” according to the indictment order signed by the two investigating judges. “After the election, he appears to have continued to benefit from the illegal financing channels put in place,” insist the magistrates. The former general secretary of the Elysée will have to explain in particular the sum of 500,000 euros received after the presidential election. According to him, he received this money by selling two paintings by the Dutch painter Andries Van Eertvelt to an anonymous buyer through a Malaysian lawyer, Sivajothi Rajendram. For the prosecution, the money would have been used to reimburse one of the unofficial intermediaries in this case, the Franco-Algerian businessman Alexandre Djouhri, 65, “as part of this operation”.
- Brice Hortefeux66, is for his part suspected of having participated “in the organization of fund transfers as part of the financing of Nicolas Sarkozy's presidential campaign by the Libyan regime”. The former minister responsible for local authorities would also have played this role of intermediary with those close to Gaddafi during a “pretext visit to Libya”. His interest in this matter? After the election of Nicolas Sarkozy, his “friend”, he was appointed Minister of the Interior. The courts also suspect him of having “taken personal financial advantage”.
- Eric Woerth68, was president of the Nicolas Sarkozy campaign financing association. He is accused of having, as such, used cash “to pay expense reports not reported in the campaign account, but also driver salaries, and more generally undeclared remuneration”. According to him, this money would come from “anonymous donations”, received “by mail or by deposit”, which “had not been entered into the accounts”. The investigating judges believe that the former Minister of the Budget had the “desire to conceal the real origin of the funds which circulated during this period”. They also point out that, according to another unofficial intermediary, the Franco-Lebanese Ziad Takieddine – on the run in Lebanon -, “suitcases given to Claude Guéant also contained large bills”, around 5 million euros.
- Thierry Gaubert73, was the deputy head of Nicolas Sarkozy's cabinet when he was Minister of Communication from 1993 to 1994. In this case, he is suspected of having received, from Ziad Takieddine, the sum of 440,000 euros in February 2006. Money paid into an account opened in the Bahamas “of which he was the economic beneficiary”, and this “in a close time frame and compatible with possible financing of the electoral campaign” of the former President of the Republic. He also made, note the investigating magistrates, “significant cash withdrawals in 2006 and 2007”.
What penalties do they incur?
- Claude Guéant : Ten years of imprisonment and a fine of 750,000 euros up to half the value of the property or funds on which the laundering operations were carried out.
- Brice Hortefeux : Ten years of imprisonment and a fine of 150,000 euros.
- Ziad Takieddine : Ten years' imprisonment and a fine of 375,000 euros up to half the value of the property or funds involved in the money laundering operations.
- Nicolas Sarkozy : Ten years of imprisonment and a fine of 375,000 euros.
- Eric Woerth : One year's imprisonment and a fine of 3,750 euros.
- Alexandre Djouhri : Ten years of imprisonment and a fine of 750,000 euros up to half the value of the property or funds on which the laundering operations were carried out.
- Thierry Gaubert : Ten years of imprisonment and a fine of 150,000 euros.
