Sarkozy ‘must be tried’ over campaign funds

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French appeals court ruled yesterday that former president Nicolas Sarkozy should stand trial on charges of illicit financing of his failed 2012 presidential campaign.

Sarkozy, 63, will appeal the decision before the Cour de Cassation, France’s court of final appeal, his lawyers said yesterday. In upholding last year’s decision by a judge to put Sarkozy on trial, the appeals court in Paris rejected arguments from his legal team seeking to avoid a embarrassing ordeal of a trial as well as up to a year in jail if found guilty. (AFP)