Fixer linked to Sarkozy case out on £2m bail in UK
A French-Algerian businessman held in connection with illegal fundraising for Nicolas Sarkozy’s 2012 presidential re-election bid has been bailed for £2 million (Dh10.3m) in the UK after suffering heart problems in prison, officials said.
Alexandre Djouhri was being held in a south London prison last month when he collapsed and required a defibrillator to resuscitate him, according to a court official.
The businessman, 59, was arrested in January accused of fraud and money laundering when he arrived at Heathrow airport in London from his home in Switzerland.
The warrant was issued by French authorities investigating claims of illegal funding of Mr Sarkozy’s campaign by the regime of former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi.
Mr Djouhri was freed after representations by his legal team but his bail was revoked on February 26 after France issued a second arrest warrant.
He was sent to the grim and overcrowded Wandsworth prison, where he collapsed before being treated in the intensive care unit of a south London hospital.
He was returned to prison but freed on March 23 subject to strict bail conditions, which included providing the surety and having to remain under curfew at his £3m London home for 20 hours a day.
Details of his condition emerged on Thursday as Mr Sarkozy learnt that he would face trial for misusing his authority to secure information from highly placed contacts about a separate campaign funding inquiry.
He has been dogged by such questions since he left office in 2012.
The one-term president was arrested last month in connection with allegations first made in 2011 that the Libyans had bankrolled his successful run for the presidency.
Documents and statements made by French investigative website Mediapart suggested that the secret funding amounted to about €50m (Dh226.4m).
Mr Sarkozy denied the allegations and claimed that the publicity around the case meant that he narrowly lost the 2012 election.
He was one of the advocates of a Nato-led military campaign that resulted in Qaddafi’s overthrow and murder in 2011 and he said that the claims made against him were revenge for his support of the rebels.
Mr Djouhri, known as a wealthy fixer for the French elite in North Africa, rose to prominence after trying to make peace between Qaddafi and the rebels attacking the regime’s hold on Tripoli.
French prosecutors want to question Mr Djouhri over the 2009 sale of a luxury villa in the south of France to a Libyan investment fund for a high price of €10m.
The villa was sold to a fund managed by Qaddafi’s former chief of staff, Bashir Saleh.
Mr Djouhri is also suspected of helping Mr Saleh to flee from France to South Africa in the days after Mr Sarkozy lost his 2012 re-election bid.
Prosecutors said the businessman was secretly recorded promising to send judges a letter denying Mr Saleh’s involvement in financing Mr Sarkozy’s campaign.
The heart problems have not delayed plans for a full extradition hearing in July but judge Emma Arbuthnot is reviewing his bail week by week. Mr Djouhri has been ordered to wear an electronic tag to ensure he does not flee Britain and has been told to keep a fully charged mobile phone with him at all times.
He has also been told that he cannot roam too far from his home in the upmarket district of Chelsea in west London, other than to seek hospital treatment or for prearranged meetings with his lawyers on the case.
Mr Djhouri has had to hand over his French and Algerian passports to police and is not allowed to go anywhere near ports, airports or international railway stations.
The court was told that Mr Djouhri has been suffering from an abnormal heart rhythm. He has had a small device implanted to monitor his heart rate and deliver electric shocks if the problems reach dangerous levels.
Doctors are still investigating the underlying causes of the problems.
His lawyers declined to comment on the matter.
Mr Djouhri is embroiled in a case where former president Mr Sarkozy is accused of taking Libyan money