Paris, France – After years of investigation, a Paris court on Thursday sentenced former French President Nicolas Sarkozy to five years in prison for criminal conspiracy in the Libyan financing case.
The French judiciary convicted Sarkozy of criminal conspiracy related to the Libyan funding affair.
Reuters reported that the judiciary found Sarkozy guilty of criminal conspiracy (collusion), but acquitted him of other charges related to the financing of his election campaign with funds from Libya.
The Associated Press stated that "the court announced that the date of imprisonment will be set later, which spares the 70-year-old Sarkozy the humiliation of being escorted from the courtroom by police and directly placed in prison."
French newspaper Le Monde clarified: "This means he will be summoned within a month by the public prosecutor's office, which will inform him of his imprisonment date. No appeal will suspend this security measure."
Upon leaving the courtroom after his conviction, Sarkozy declared: "What happened today in this court is extremely serious for the rule of law and for the trust we can place in justice."
He added: "More than 10 years of investigations, and millions of euros spent to find Libyan funding that the criminal court said could not be found in my campaign."
Sarkozy concluded: "If they want me to sleep in prison, I will sleep there, but with my head held high. I am innocent. This injustice is a scandal. I will not disown something I did not do. Of course, I will appeal the verdict."