Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to five years in prison after a Paris court found him guilty of criminal conspiracy linked to illegal campaign financing from late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
The historic ruling on Thursday, September 25, 2025, makes Sarkozy, 70, the first French head of state in modern history to face actual jail time.
The court ordered that he be placed in custody at a later date, giving prosecutors one month to notify him when he must report to prison.
Sarkozy, who ruled France from 2007 to 2012, was also fined €100,000 ($117,000) and banned from holding public office.
Although he is expected to appeal, the custodial order remains valid regardless.
The former leader may also seek parole on age grounds, but legal analysts say the symbolic weight of the ruling is already immense.
Judge Nathalie Gavarino, who delivered the verdict, described Sarkozy’s offences as acts of “exceptional gravity” that undermined public trust.
While the court convicted him of conspiracy, it acquitted him of corruption and direct illegal campaign financing, noting there was no conclusive proof that Gaddafi’s funds were ultimately used in his 2007 campaign.
The trial also implicated Sarkozy’s close allies.
His longtime aide Claude Gueant received a six-year sentence but will not serve prison time due to poor health at age 80.
Former minister Brice Hortefeux, 67, got two years, which he will serve under electronic surveillance.
Another key figure, businessman Alexandre Djouhri, was handed six years and taken into immediate custody for allegedly acting as the go-between in the Libyan funding scheme.
This is not Sarkozy’s first conviction.
He was previously found guilty in two separate cases but avoided prison, once serving his sentence with an electronic tag. That leniency ended today.
The ruling closes a dark chapter in French politics, as Sarkozy’s 2007 election once hailed as a turning point for the French right now carries the stain of foreign interference.
The conviction also comes as courts across the world tighten scrutiny on campaign financing.
In Brazil, former president Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced earlier this month to 27 years in prison for corruption.
With Sarkozy’s fall from grace, France has witnessed a rare moment of accountability, showing that even its most powerful leaders are not beyond the reach of the law.
The post France Sentences Ex-President to Five Years Over Campaign Fund Scandal first appeared on Diaspora Digital Media DDM.
