Former French President Nicolas Sarosi
was sentenced to 5 years in prison on
Thursday after being found guilty of
criminal conspiracy.
The Paris court ruled his close aids
made efforts to procure funds for his
2007 presidential bid from Libya during
the rule of late dictator Muhammad Gaddafi.
Gaddafi.
Zakosi called the decision an injustice
Naturally, I will appeal. I will
probably have to appear handcuffed
>> Those who hate me so much think they are
humiliating me. What they have
humiliated today is France. It is the
>> The former leader will spend time in
jail because of the much harsher than
expected sentence. He was acquitted by
the court of all other charges,
including corruption and receiving
illegal campaign financing.
Sarosi was accused of making a deal with
Gaddafi in 2005 when he was France's
interior minister to obtain campaign
financing in exchange for supporting the
then isolated Libyan government. The
judge said there was no proof Sarosi
made such a deal, but she said Sarosi
was guilty of criminal conspiracy for
having let aids get in touch with Libya
to try and obtain campaign financing.
The 70-year-old has always denied the
charges in a case he said was
politically motivated.
Zakosi has faced several legal battles
since leaving office. Last year,
France's highest court upheld his
conviction for corruption and influence
peddling, ordering him to wear an
electronic tag for a year. Sarosi
remains an influential figure on the
French political stage, meeting with
current Prime Minister Sebastian Leonu,
as well as lending credibility to the
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