The trial of Nicolas Sarkozy in the Libyan elections case begins

Former President Nicolas Sarkozy The Frenchman went on trial Monday in Paris on charges that his 2007 election campaign received illegal funding from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s Libyan government.

The trial, which is scheduled to last three months, is not the first ever for Sarkozy (69 years old), a conservative politician who led France from 2007 to 2012, but it represents… One of the most dangerous Legal threats to the French politician since he left office.

Only last month, Sarkozy exhausted his final appeal In a separate case of corruption and abuse of influenceThis makes him the first former French president to be sentenced to actual imprisonment, although he will spend his period under house arrest with an electronic bracelet.

But of all the legal cases against Sarkozy, the Libyan case stands out Among the most sprawling, winding and explosive. It includes accusations that his campaign illegally accepted huge sums of money from Colonel Gaddafi, the former Libyan strongman who was killed by opposition fighters in 2011.

Sarkozy, who has denied any wrongdoing, could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of nearly $400,000.