Source: France 24 [French state media]
“France’s ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy at an appeals trial Tuesday said he was ‘innocent,’ rejecting charges he had sought Libyan financing for his 2007 election in exchange for helping improve Tripoli’s image after deadly bombings. A lower court in September found the right-wing politician, who was president from 2007 to 2012, guilty of seeking to acquire funding from Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya for the campaign that saw him elected and sentenced him to five years behind bars. The case saw Sarkozy, who has always denied any wrongdoing, become modern France’s first president to have gone to prison. He served 20 days before he was released pending the appeal.” (04/07/26)