Nicolas Sarkozy, former French president, is currently at the heart of a legal investigation into fraudulent maneuvers aimed at exonerating him in the case of Libyan financing of his 2007 presidential campaign. Since Tuesday morning, he has been questioned by a judge instruction in Paris.
This case follows the retraction of Ziad Takieddine, a Franco-Lebanese intermediary, who declared in an interview in November 2020 that Nicolas Sarkozy’s campaign had not been financed by the Libyans. These assertions run counter to his previous statements in the filing.
Investigators suspect several people, including journalist Mimi Marchand and intermediary Noël Dubus, of having participated in fraudulent maneuvers aimed at exonerating Nicolas Sarkozy. They would also have tried to prove that the Libyan document published by Mediapart in 2012 was a fake and would have sought to obtain the release of a son of Gaddafi in Lebanon to facilitate the exoneration of the former president.
Nicolas Sarkozy firmly denied any participation in these facts during his free hearing in June, affirming that he had no concrete evidence to incriminate him. He also stressed that contacts with other people involved were purely coincidental and had no significant connection to the case.
This new interrogation could therefore bring new elements to the investigation and determine whether Nicolas Sarkozy should be indicted or be considered as an assisted witness.
This case adds to an already busy legal agenda for Nicolas Sarkozy, who must also face the trial of Libyan financing as well as that in the Bygmalion case, scheduled for November on appeal.
The outcome of this investigation will have a major impact on the image of Nicolas Sarkozy and on his possible participation in French political life in the future. It remains to be seen how events will unfold and what the investigating judge’s decision will be. The Libyan financing affair therefore continues to arouse interest and cause much discussion.