Ex-French President Nicolas Sarkozy gets five years in prison over conspiracy with Gadhafi

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday was sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of criminal conspiracy with the late Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi.

The presiding judge on the panel, Nathalie Gavarino, said Sarkozy was guilty of letting his close associates “act with the aim of obtaining financial support” from the Libyan regime, The Wall Street Journal reported. The panel of judges dismissed corruption charges against Sarkozy, finding no evidence of Libyan funds being used in his 2007 campaign.

Sarkozy, 70, is required to start his prison sentence within a month unless his lawyers can persuade judges to delay it during the review of any appeals.

According to prosecutors, Sarkozy allegedly agreed to help rehabilitate Libya and Gadhafi on the world stage in exchange for presidential campaign funds. Libya was ostracized after the 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 bombing, an attack for which it admitted responsibility and that resulted in the deaths of 243 passengers and 16 crew members, as well as 11 people in Lockerbie, Scotland.

A few months after Sarkozy won the 2007 election, he welcomed Gadhafi to Paris, letting him pitch his customary Bedouin-style tent across the street from the Élysée presidential palace. The families of the Lockerbie bombing victims were outraged over Gadhafi's visit.

Sarkozy testified in court, denying any allegations of wrongdoing and calling the accusations against him grotesque and baseless. He said Gadhafi’s visit allowed France to sign billions of euros worth of contracts with Libya.

The former president's attorneys argued that there was no evidence of payments by the Libyan regime to Sarkozy’s campaign.