Sarkozy held on Gaddafi fund claims
paris — Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was placed in custody on Tuesday as part of an investigation into allegations he received millions of euros in illegal campaign financing from the regime of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
A judicial source with direct knowledge of the case said Sarkozy was being held at the Nanterre police station, north-west of Paris. The person spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to discuss the matter. Sarkozy has vehemently and repeatedly denied wrongdoing in the case, which involves funding for his winning 2007 presidential campaign.
A lawyer for Sarkozy, 63, did not respond to a message from the AP seeking comment. Investigators are examining claims that Gaddafi’s regime secretly gave Sarkozy €50 million overall for the 2007 campaign. Such a sum would be more than double the legal campaign funding limit at the time of €21 million. —
$6m reportedly transferred from Gaddafi’s former intelligence chief to Sarkozy’s campaign chief
paris — Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was questioned on Tuesday by police investigating whether late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi helped finance his 2007 election campaign.
An official in the French judiciary said Sarkozy, 63, was held in custody in Nanterre, west of Paris.
It is the second major judicial investigation to fall on Sarkozy, who served as president from 20072012.
He already faces trial on separate charges of illicit spending overruns during his failed re-election campaign in 2012.
A lawyer for Sarkozy could not immediately be reached for comment. The former president has dismissed the Libya allegations as “grotesque” and a “crude manipulation”.
France’s centre-right party, The Republicans, backed its former leader. “Members and supporters of The Republicans are once again left feeling that not all lawmakers or former lawmakers are treated equally, depending on their political affiliation,” the party said in a statement.
France opened an inquiry into the Libya case in 2013, after reports by French website Mediapart based on claims by a Franco-Lebanese businessman, Ziad Takieddine, who said he had transferred 5 million euros ($6 million) from Gaddafi’s former intelligence chief
nicolas sarkozy. —
Abdullah Senussi to Sarkozy’s campaign chief. Months after he took office in 2007, Sarkozy became the first Western leader in decades to host a visit by Gaddafi, who pitched his trademark Bedouin-style tent next to the Elysee Palace. Several business deals were signed.
However, Sarkozy was later one of the chief advocates of a NATOled military campaign that resulted in Gaddafi’s overthrow and killing at the hands of rebel forces in 2011. Investigators in France can hold people for questioning for up to 48 hours before either releasing them or sending them before magistrates who decide whether they have grounds for turning a preliminary inquiry into a full investigation. The latter can, but does not always, lead to a trial. The Libyafunding inquiry appeared to have gone quiet until January, when French businessman Alexandre Djouhri, suspected by investigators of funneling money from Gaddafi to finance Sarkozy’s campaign, was arrested in Britain on a warrant issued by France. A lawyer for Djouhri last month accused French authorities of politicising the case and manipulating it against his client. French authorities had no comment. —