Libyan trial appeal: Sarkozy claims innocence ahead of 30 November verdict
The appeal trial over alleged Libyan financing of Sarkozy's 2007 campaign closed with an emotional speech by the former president. The verdict is expected on 30 November.
Final words, severe prosecution: Libyan appeal trial draws to a close
On Wednesday 29 May, Nicolas Sarkozy delivered his closing remarks before the Paris Court of Appeal, his voice marked by emotion and anger. The former head of state claimed he had "not betrayed the trust of the French people" and asked the court to find him innocent, describing the proceedings as a "via dolorosa". According to France 24 - France, the decision will be handed down on 30 November, following two and a half months of hearings.
Facing him, the prosecution sought seven years in prison against the former president for criminal conspiracy, corruption and illegal campaign financing. The magistrates designated him as the instigator of an alleged pact with the regime of Muammar Gaddafi, concluded in exchange for money and various political concessions.
Guéant's absence turned against Sarkozy
One of the most acute tensions at the end of proceedings concerned Nicolas Sarkozy's defence strategy, which implicated his former right-hand man Claude Guéant — absent for health reasons. The latter's lawyer, Me Philippe Bouchez El Ghozi, denounced before the court "the cruelty" and "cynicism" of this decision.
"Claude Guéant's absence, imposed by his health, was exploited by Nicolas Sarkozy," pleaded Me Bouchez El Ghozi, arguing that his client was being made a scapegoat and was designated as the "recipient of Libyan funds". The lawyer questioned this change of tack: "political cynicism or the desperation of the defendant?"
This reversal contrasts sharply with the first instance trial, where Guéant and Sarkozy had presented a united front. According to Me Bouchez El Ghozi, this is a "short-sighted, desperate and despairing strategy", a "violence unprecedented, as sudden as it is brutal". He recalled that Claude Guéant had written to the court twice to emphasise that he had "consistently followed the instructions of Nicolas Sarkozy", according to the principle that "the number two does precisely what the number one tells him".
The lawyer also recalled that Guéant had duly informed Sarkozy of his discreet October 2005 meeting with Abdallah Senoussi, second-in-command of the Libyan regime, who was at the time being sought by France for having ordered the attack on UTA Flight 772 in 1989.
Hortefeux and Woerth plead for acquittal
Brice Hortefeux, former minister and close ally of Nicolas Sarkozy, spoke towards the end of proceedings to describe himself as a man "physically standing" but "morally on the ground", exhausted by years of allegations. "Defeated by seeing his life's commitment suspected", "by seeing his integrity called into question," he declared before the court.
His lawyer Florence Bourg requested his acquittal. The prosecution had sought four years in prison against him, two of which suspended, for criminal conspiracy. For Éric Woerth, treasurer of the victorious 2007 campaign, ten months in prison with suspension were sought — he had been acquitted at first instance of the offence of complicity in illegal political financing. His counsel, Me Jean-Yves Le Borgne, also pleaded for acquittal.
Defence denounces "thirteen years without evidence"
Nicolas Sarkozy's lawyers delivered their closing arguments by targeting the length and fragility of the investigation. "They have been searching for 13 years, 13 years digging, 13 years conducting raids in France, in Switzerland, in Libya, in Lebanon," declared Me Christophe Ingrain, the first of four lawyers for the former president to speak. He described the prosecution as a "grotesque novel" built without "direct evidence".
On the substance of the case, the defence argued that Sarkozy would not have been informed of the meetings between Hortefeux and Guéant in late 2005 with Abdallah Senoussi, during which the alleged pact was supposedly struck. His own visit on 6 October 2005 would have constituted merely an "official visit by the Minister of the Interior that was part of the rapprochement between France and Libya", according to Me Ingrain.
Me Sébastien Schapira questioned the motive attributed to his client, appealing to "common sense": he emphasised the "implausibility" of the scenario of a man "within reach of the Élysée" who would have engaged in "a Faustian pact" with Muammar Gaddafi, described as "a madman" whom everyone knew was unmanageable.
The prosecution contends that this pact provided for Libyan money in exchange for concessions, notably a review of Senoussi's criminal situation, sentenced to life imprisonment in France for the attack on UTA Flight 772 in 1989, which killed 170 people.
"I ask for one thing only"
In his final statements to the court, Nicolas Sarkozy repeated that he had "not betrayed the trust of the French people" and demanded his acquittal. The Paris Court of Appeal will hand down its decision on 30 November.
Source: France 24 - France