Ex-French President Sarkozy in police custody

Ex-French President Sarkozy in police custody

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is in police custody, court sources said on Tuesday morning.

Sarkozy is to be questioned as part of an investigation into suspected irregularities over his election campaign financing, an official in the French judiciary confirmed.

The probe is related to alleged Libyan funding for Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign, Le Monde newspaper reported.

A lawyer for Sarkozy could not immediately be reached for comment.

France opened a judicial inquiry in 2013 into allegations that Sarkozy’s successful 2007 election bid benefited from illicit funds from late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

A former minister and close ally of Sarkozy, Brice Hortefeux, was also being questioned by police on Tuesday morning in relation to the Libya investigation, another source close to the probe said.

Sarkozy, who served as president from 2007 to 2012, has always denied receiving any illicit campaign funding and has dismissed the Libyan allegations as “grotesque”.

In January a French businessman suspected by investigators of funneling money from Gaddafi to finance Sarkozy’s campaign was arrested in Britain and granted bail after he appeared in a London court.

Sarkozy has already been ordered to stand trial in a separate matter concerning financing of his failed re-election campaign in 2012, when he was defeated by Francois Hollande.

Tags:

FRANCE PRESIDENT NICHOLAS SARKOZY

Want to send us a story? Submit on Wananchi Reporting on the Citizen Digital App or Send an email to wananchi@royalmedia.co.ke or Send an SMS to 25170 or WhatsApp on 0743570000

Leave a Comment

Comments

No comments yet.

latest stories