Sarkozy's defence brands Libyan funding case a 'grotesque novel' as Paris appeal trial concludes

Final day of pleadings

The appeal trial of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy over the alleged Libyan financing of his victorious 2007 presidential campaign concluded its hearings on Wednesday, 27 May 2026. The day was dedicated to the pleadings of Sarkozy's four defence lawyers, who opened by denouncing the prosecution's case as a "grotesque novel" and "wild accusations."

For thirteen years they've been searching, digging, carrying out raids in France, Switzerland, Libya, Lebanon, placing people in custody, trying to give substance to the wild accusations of Libyan financing of the 2007 campaign, and trying to implicate Nicolas Sarkozy in this grotesque novel.

The defence argued that after more than a decade of investigations, there was "not the shadow of an attempt to prove anything" in the prosecution's submissions. Sarkozy's lawyers are seeking a full acquittal for the 71-year-old former head of state.

The prosecution's case

The public prosecutor's office has described Sarkozy as the "instigator" of a corruption pact with the regime of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, characterising the affair as being at "the highest level of gravity that the Republic can know." The prosecution has requested a seven-year prison sentence for Sarkozy on charges of criminal association, corruption, and illegal campaign financing using diverted Libyan public funds.

This is the heaviest sentence requested among the ten defendants in the case. Former secretary general Claude Guéant, aged 81, faces a requested six-year term. The presiding judge of the appeal court, Olivier Géron, is expected to give Sarkozy a final opportunity to speak at the end of the day before the court retires to consider its verdict.

A long-running affair

The case was triggered in 2011 by unsubstantiated accusations from Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, followed by revelations published by the investigative outlet Mediapart in 2012. Throughout the proceedings, Sarkozy has consistently denied any wrongdoing, describing the allegations as a "fable," a "slander," and a "manipulation."

Not a centime of Libyan money ended up in my campaign.

Sarkozy has maintained that he never contemplated, let alone prepared, such a financing arrangement. The prosecution's theory alleges that the funding would have had various quid pro quos, including a review of the penal situation of the regime's number two, Abdallah Senoussi, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in France for ordering the 1989 attack on UTA Flight DC-10, which killed 170 people including 54 French citizens.

First-instance conviction

In the first instance, Sarkozy was convicted on 25 September 2025 and sentenced to five years in prison for criminal association. He spent 20 days in Paris's La Santé prison — an unprecedented incarceration for a former president of the French Republic. Since the appeal trial opened on 16 March 2026, Sarkozy has adopted a more restrained demeanour in form, though his position on the substance of the charges has remained unchanged.

A former aide's attack

On the eve of the final day, the lawyer for Sarkozy's former chief of staff delivered a scathing attack on the ex-president's character, highlighting the tensions that have surfaced among the defendants during the nearly ten-week appeal hearing. The court's verdict is scheduled to be delivered on 30 November 2026.