Paris: Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been charged with receiving illicit financing from the regime of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi for his 2007 election campaign.

After the former head of state was questioned in police custody over two days, a three-judge panel on Wednesday evening charged Sarkozy with bribe-taking, illegal campaign financing and receiving Libyan public funds, reports Efe news. The 63-year-old Sarkozy, France’s centre-right president from 2007 to 2012, is already facing illicit campaign financing charges stemming from his unsuccessful bid for re-election in 2012.

The former President, who has been released from custody, was questioned on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Judicial Police’s headquarters in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris, over allegations he accepted illicit campaign donations from Gadafi, who was deposed and killed in a Western-led intervention in 2011. It remains unknown what Sarkozy told investigators.

But Jean-Yves Dupeux, attorney for Brice Hortefeux – a former interior minister under Sarkozy who spent 15 hours on Tuesday being grilled by the same anti-corruption investigators – told the BFMTV channel that the police fired at least 200 questions at his client, who categorically denied that Sarkozy had benefited from Libyan campaign financing. Sarkozy himself has vehemently denied the allegations, including ones levelled by Ziad Takieddine, a French-Lebanese businessman and arms broker.

In November 2016, Takieddine told French news website Mediapart that he personally transported 5 million euros ($6 million) in cash from Tripoli to Paris and hand-delivered those funds to Sarkozy, the interior minister at the time, and to Claude Gueant. Gueant, who was the director of Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign, also is facing charges in the Libyan funding case.

Other evidence against Sarkozy includes a document published in April 2012 by Mediapart and allegedly drafted in December 2006 by Moussa Koussa, the former head of Libya’s intelligence service. That document, which the former French president says is a forgery, pledged to provide 50 million euros for Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign. France launched an investigation into the allegations the following year.</s>Nicolas Sarkozy Detained by Police Over Campaign Probe

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was detained by police in a probe into campaign finances https://bloom.bg/2IE09CS #tictocnews (Source: Bloomberg)</s>Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday evening was charged with receiving illicit financing from Libya's then-government for his successful 2007 election campaign.

After the former head of state was questioned in police custody over two days, a three-judge panel charged Sarkozy with bribe-taking, illegal campaign financing and receiving Libyan public funds, local media reported.

The 63-year-old Sarkozy, France's center-right president from 2007 to 2012, is already facing illicit campaign financing charges stemming from his unsuccessful bid for re-election in 2012.

The former president, who has been released from custody, was questioned on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Judicial Police's headquarters in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris, over allegations he accepted illicit campaign donations from late Libyan strongman Muammar Gadaffi, who was deposed and killed in a Western-led intervention in 2011.

But Jean-Yves Dupeux, attorney for Brice Hortefeux - a former interior minister under Sarkozy who spent 15 hours Tuesday being grilled by the same anti-corruption investigators - told the BFMTV channel that the police fired at least 200 questions at his client, who categorically denied that Sarkozy had benefited from Libyan campaign financing.

Sarkozy himself has vehemently denied the allegations, including ones leveled by Ziad Takieddine, a French-Lebanese businessman and arms broker.

In November 2016, Takieddine told French news Web site Mediapart that he personally transported 5 million euros ($6 million) in cash from Tripoli to Paris and hand-delivered those funds to Sarkozy, the interior minister at the time, and to Claude Gueant.

Gueant, who was the director of Sarkozy's 2007 campaign, also is facing charges in the Libyan funding case.

Other evidence against Sarkozy includes a document published in April 2012 by Mediapart and allegedly drafted in December 2006 by Moussa Koussa, the then-head of Libya's intelligence service.

That document, which the former French president says is a forgery, pledged to provide 50 million euros for Sarkozy's 2007 campaign.

France launched an investigation into the allegations the following year.</s>The Latest on the investigation of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy (all times local):

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been handed preliminary charges over allegations he took millions of euros in illegal campaign funding from the late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

A judicial source with direct knowledge of the case told The Associated Press that the charges include illegally funding a campaign, passive corruption and receiving money from Libyan embezzlement.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. According to the same source, Sarkozy proclaimed his innocence during two days of questioning with anti-corruption police officers

Sarkozy was France’s president from 2007-12, has repeatedly and vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

An investigation involving funding for his winning 2007 presidential campaign first was launched in 2013. Investigators are examining claims that Gadhafi’s regime secretly gave the politician 50 million euros overall for his campaign.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is being questioned by police for a second day over allegations he took millions of euros in illegal campaign funding from the late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

After spending the night at home, Sarkozy has returned to a police station in Nanterre, northwest of Paris, to be questioned by anticorruption police officers, a person with direct knowledge of the case told The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

An investigation has been underway since 2013 into the case, involving funding for Sarkozy’s winning 2007 presidential campaign. The 63-year-old Sarkozy has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.</s>Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was handed preliminary charges Wednesday over allegations he accepted millions of euros in illegal campaign funding from the late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

A judicial official told The Associated Press that investigating judges overseeing the probe gave the ex-president charges of illegally funding his successful 2007 campaign, passive corruption and receiving money from Libyan embezzlement.

The person was not authorized to speak publicly about the case.

The charges involving illegal campaign funding from a foreign dictator are the most serious faced by a former French president in recent history. They were presented after Sarkozy was questioned for two days by anticorruption police at a station in Nanterre, northwest of the French capital.

Investigators are examining allegations that Gadhafi's regime secretly gave Sarkozy 50 million euros (about $62 million) overall for his presidential election bid.

The sum would be more than double the legal campaign funding limit at the time — 21 million euros. In addition, the alleged payments would violate French rules against foreign financing and requiring that the source of campaign funds be declared.

Sarkozy, 63, who was France's president during 2007-12, has repeatedly and vehemently denied any wrongdoing. According to the same source, he again proclaimed his innocence during his questioning by police.

The former president was released on Wednesday night, but placed under judicial supervision. Details of the restrictions he has been ordered to obey have not been revealed.

In the French judicial system, preliminary charges mean Sarkozy is personally under formal investigation in a criminal case. The judges will keep investigating the case in the next weeks and months.

At the end of their investigation, they can decide either to drop the preliminary charges or to send Sarkozy to trial on formal charges.

Sarkozy had a complex relationship with Gadhafi. Soon after winning the French presidency, he invited the Libyan leader for a state visit and welcomed him to France with high honors.

But Sarkozy then put France in the forefront of the NATO-led airstrikes against Gadhafi's troops that helped rebel fighters topple Gadhafi's regime in 2011.

Sarkozy has faced other campaign-related legal troubles in the past. In February 2017, he was ordered to stand trial after being handed preliminary charges for suspected illegal overspending on his failed 2012 re-election campaign. Sarkozy has appealed the decision.

In 2013, he was cleared of allegations that he illegally took donations from France's richest woman, L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, on the way to his 2007 election victory.

His lawyer, Thierry Herzog, did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.

Sarkozy's former top aide, the ex-minister Brice Hortefeux, was also questioned Tuesday, but not detained. He said on Twitter that the details he gave investigators "should help put an end to a series of mistakes and lies."

The investigation got a boost when French-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine told the online investigative site Mediapart in 2016 that he delivered suitcases from Libya containing 5 million euros ($6.2 million) in cash to Sarkozy and his former chief of staff, Claude Gueant.

Takieddine repeated his allegations during a live interview with France's BFM TV on Wednesday night.

He claimed he personally handed a suitcase containing 2 million euros (about $2.5 million) in cash to Sarkozy at the then-candidate's apartment and another suitcase with 1.5 million euros (about $1.9 million) to Sarkozy and a close aide at the French Interior Ministry. Sarkozy was interior minister at the time.

Takieddine alleged he gave a third suitcase with 1.5 million euros in cash to the aide alone. He said the money was not meant to finance Sarkozy's presidential campaign in 2007, but to honor contracts between France and Libya.</s>Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was being held in police custody on Tuesday for questioning by magistrates looking into allegations of Libyan funding for his 2007 election campaign, an official in the French judiciary said.

A lawyer for Mr Sarkozy could not be reached immediately for comment.

France opened a judicial inquiry in 2013 into allegations that Mr Sarkozy’s successful 2007 election bid benefited from illicit funds from late Libyan leader Muammar Gadafy.

A former minister and close ally of Mr Sarkozy, Brice Hortefeux, was also being questioned by police on Tuesday morning in relation to the Libya investigation, another source close to the investigation said.

Mr Sarkozy, who served as president from 2007 to 2012, has always denied receiving any illicit campaign funding and has dismissed the Libyan allegations as “grotesque”.

In January a French businessman suspected by investigators of funnelling money from Gadafy to finance Mr Sarkozy’s campaign was arrested in Britain and granted bail after he appeared in a London court.

Mr Sarkozy has already been ordered to stand trial in a separate matter concerning financing of his failed re-election campaign in 2012, when he was defeated by Francois Hollande. – Reuters</s>PARIS (Reuters) - Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was being held in police custody on Tuesday for questioning by magistrates looking into allegations of Libyan funding for his 2007 election campaign, an official in the French judiciary said.

A lawyer for Sarkozy could not be reached immediately for comment.

France opened a judicial inquiry in 2013 into allegations that Sarkozy’s successful 2007 election bid benefited from illicit funds from late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

A former minister and close ally of Sarkozy, Brice Hortefeux, was also being questioned by police on Tuesday morning in relation to the Libya investigation, another source close to the probe said.

Sarkozy, who served as president from 2007 to 2012, has always denied receiving any illicit campaign funding and has dismissed the Libyan allegations as “grotesque”.

In January a French businessman suspected by investigators of funneling money from Gaddafi to finance Sarkozy’s campaign was arrested in Britain and granted bail after he appeared in a London court.

Sarkozy has already been ordered to stand trial in a separate matter concerning financing of his failed re-election campaign in 2012, when he was defeated by Francois Hollande.</s>FORMER FRENCH PRESIDENT Nicolas Sarkozy has been taken into police custody for questioning over suspected Libyan financing of his 2007 election campaign, a source close to the inquiry told AFP.

Sarkozy, aged 63, had until now refused to respond to a summons for questioning in the case, which drew heightened scrutiny last November when a businessman admitted delivering three cash-stuffed suitcases from the Libyan leader as contributions towards the French leader’s first presidential bid.

Sarkozy’s detention was first reported by the Mediapart investigative news site and French daily Le Monde and comes several weeks after a former associate, Alexandre Djouhri, was arrested in London and later released on bail.

Djouhri was returned to pre-trial detention in February after France issued a second warrant for his arrest, ahead of a hearing scheduled for 28 March.

A source close to the inquiry also said that Brice Hortefeux, a top government minister during Sarkozy’s presidency, was also questioned today as part of the inquiry.

Before his arrest in January, Djouhri, a 59-year-old Swiss resident, was well known among France’s right-wing political establishment and had refused to respond to the summons for questioning in Paris.

He has been a focus of the inquiry opened in 2013 by judges investigating earlier claims by late Libyan ruler Moamer Kadhafi and his son Seif al-Islam that they provided funds for Sarkozy’s election effort.

Sarkozy has dismissed the allegations as the claims of vindictive Libyan regime members furious over his participation in the US-led military intervention that ended Kadhafi’s 41-year rule.

Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine said he had made three trips from Tripoli to Paris in late 2006 and early 2007 with cash for Sarkozy’s campaign.

Each time he carried a suitcase containing €1.5 million to €2.0 million in €200 and €500 notes, Takieddine claimed in a French media interview, saying he was given the money by Kadhafi’s military intelligence chief Abdallah Senussi.

More: Nicolas Sarkozy knocked out of French presidential race</s>Prosecutors charged former French President Nicolas Sarkozy with accepting illegal campaign contributions from Muammar Qaddafi’s regime in Libya before the 2007 French election, according to a person in a Paris prosecutor’s office familiar with the matter.

Sarkozy was charged after having been in police custody since Tuesday morning for questioning by a special financial crimes unit, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the process is confidential. Sarkozy has denied the allegations. In France’s criminal justice system, charges are brought during an investigation, before a decision is made on whether the matter will go to trial.

The 63-year-old former president has been the target of several criminal investigations since he left office in 2012. In 2014 he was charged with influence-peddling for alleged efforts to have judges keep him informed about the state of play in some of the probes. An investigative judge decided in February 2017 to send him to trial on charges that he used false receipts to illegally exceed campaign-spending limits in his failed 2012 re-election bid. Both cases are still pending.

Investigative judges began tapping Sarkozy’s phone in 2013 as part of the investigation into whether he received funds from Qaddafi’s regime. That surveillance led to the influence-peddling charges. This week was the first time Sarkozy had been questioned in the Libyan case, much of which relies on claims by former members or associates of Qaddafi, who was killed in 2011 by France-backed rebels.

His office didn’t reply to repeated requests for comment.

Sarkozy placed a distant third in 2016 in the primary to be the candidate of the center-right Republicans, after which he said he was quitting politics. He’d previously said he’d quit politics after failing to win re-election in 2012, only to return in time for his failed 2016 bid.

He’s remained active behind the scenes as his party looks to rebuild after failing to make the second round of the subsequent 2017 presidential elections. He also speaks occasionally to President Emmanuel Macron, according to French press reports.

Segolene Royal, the Socialist politician who lost to Sarkozy in 2007, said Wednesday on Twitter before the charges were announced that “justice is making progress.” Citizens have a right to know whether the election “was a fair competition,” she said.</s>Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was being held in police custody on Tuesday for questioning by magistrates looking into allegations of Libyan funding for his 2007 election campaign, an official in the French judiciary said.A lawyer for Sarkozy could not be reached immediately for comment.France opened a judicial inquiry in 2013 into allegations that Sarkozy’s successful 2007 election bid benefited from illicit funds from late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.A former minister and close ally of Sarkozy, Brice Hortefeux, was also being questioned by police on Tuesday morning in relation to the Libya investigation, another source close to the probe said.Sarkozy, who served as president from 2007 to 2012, has always denied receiving any illicit campaign funding and has dismissed the Libyan allegations as “grotesque”.GaddafiIn January a French businessman suspected by investigators of funnelling money from Gaddafi to finance Sarkozy’s campaign was arrested in Britain and granted bail after he appeared in a London court.Sarkozy has already been ordered to stand trial in a separate matter concerning financing of his failed re-election campaign in 2012, when he was defeated by Francois Hollande.
Former President of France Nicolas Sarkozy is preliminarily charged with illegal funding of his 2007 presidential campaign, passive corruption and receiving money from Libyan embezzlement.