PARIS: Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was handed preliminary charges Tuesday over allegations he accepted millions of euros in illegal campaign funding from the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
A judicial official told The Associated Press that investigative judges overseeing the probe gave the ex-president charges of illegally funding his 2007 winning campaign, passive corruption and receiving money from Libyan embezzlement. The person was not authorized to speak publicly about the case.
The charges came after Sarkozy was detained for two days of questioning by anticorruption police at a station in Nanterre, northwest of the French capital.
Sarkozy, 63, who 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 Gaddafi's regime secretly gave the politician 50 million euros overall for his campaign.
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.
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.
"He's a real liar," Takieddine said of Sarkozy.
Sarkozy had a complex relationship with Gaddafi. Soon after winning the French presidency, Sarkozy 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 NATO-led airstrikes against Gaddafi's troops that helped rebel fighters topple Gaddafi's regime in 2011.
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French ex-president Sarkozy put under investigation for illicit campaign funding
French ex-president Sarkozy put under investigation for illicit campaign funding
Nordic region seeks deeper ties with Greenland after Trump threats
- Treaty of Nordic cooperation was created in 1962
- Update of treaty would be ‘historic’, Danish minister says
COPENHAGEN: Nordic government ministers will meet in Denmark on Wednesday to discuss elevating Greenland and two other autonomous territories to equal status in a regional forum, boosting cooperation after US President Donald Trump’s push to control the Arctic island.
Denmark and its European allies have rejected Trump’s insistence that the Nordic country must hand Greenland to the United States, launching talks last month between Copenhagen, Nuuk and Washington to resolve the diplomatic standoff.
Wednesday’s meeting will focus on upgrading the Helsinki Treaty, adopted in 1962 by Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Norway, to give full rights to the Danish-ruled territories of Greenland and the Faroe Islands as well as Finland’s Aland.
The autonomous regions have for decades sought equal status in the Nordic forum, but were kept out of meetings focusing on security and related matters such as the war in Ukraine, leading Greenland’s government in 2024 to boycott the format.
“An update of the Helsinki Treaty will be a historic step and a future-proofing of Nordic co-operation,” Denmark’s minister for Nordic cooperation, Morten Dahlin, said in a statement.
Greenland will actively participate in creating a commission to update the agreement, the island’s Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt said in the statement.
“The process surrounding the Helsinki Treaty will be decisive in determining whether Greenland can be recognized as an equal partner in Nordic cooperation,” Motzfeldt said.
While opinion polls have indicated that a majority of the island’s 57,000 people hope to one day gain independence from Denmark, many warn against rushing it due to economic reliance on Copenhagen and becoming overly exposed to the United States.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen earlier this month said that if Greenlanders were forced to choose between the US and Denmark, they would choose Denmark.
Denmark and its European allies have rejected Trump’s insistence that the Nordic country must hand Greenland to the United States, launching talks last month between Copenhagen, Nuuk and Washington to resolve the diplomatic standoff.
Wednesday’s meeting will focus on upgrading the Helsinki Treaty, adopted in 1962 by Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Norway, to give full rights to the Danish-ruled territories of Greenland and the Faroe Islands as well as Finland’s Aland.
The autonomous regions have for decades sought equal status in the Nordic forum, but were kept out of meetings focusing on security and related matters such as the war in Ukraine, leading Greenland’s government in 2024 to boycott the format.
“An update of the Helsinki Treaty will be a historic step and a future-proofing of Nordic co-operation,” Denmark’s minister for Nordic cooperation, Morten Dahlin, said in a statement.
Greenland will actively participate in creating a commission to update the agreement, the island’s Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt said in the statement.
“The process surrounding the Helsinki Treaty will be decisive in determining whether Greenland can be recognized as an equal partner in Nordic cooperation,” Motzfeldt said.
While opinion polls have indicated that a majority of the island’s 57,000 people hope to one day gain independence from Denmark, many warn against rushing it due to economic reliance on Copenhagen and becoming overly exposed to the United States.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen earlier this month said that if Greenlanders were forced to choose between the US and Denmark, they would choose Denmark.
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