The day of reckoning for connections to Muammar Gaddafi

Early on March 20, a rather unexpected and high-profile event occurred in France, as the police took the former president of that country, Nicolas Sarkozy, into custody. After the law enforcement released the former head of state to his residence for the night, he returned to the police station on the next day and continued to answer investigators’ questions, reports The Washington Post.

According to media reports, Sarkozy was detained for questioning in connection with suspicions that his 2007 campaign was allegedly financed by former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The money in question amounted to about 50 million euros, of which he seemed to have received 5 million in cash. Although the case was opened as early as 2013, Sarkozy was not questioned until now. Earlier, the former resident of the Elysee Palace limited his response to denials of any unlawful financing from Libya, calling such allegations “grotesque.” The police also detained for questioning in the same case a close ally of Sarkozy, Brice Hortefeux.

According to Radio Liberty, Sarkozy allegedly did not declare the money received, so he probably both violated the rules limiting campaign financing (since at that time, the permissible expenses for presidential candidates were capped at 21 million euros) and failed to declare money he had received from abroad.

The former French president had a rather confusing relationship with the Libyan leader, notes France-24, because Sarkozy invited Gaddafi for a state visit immediately after the presidential election, but in 2011, France was in the forefront of the NATO-led coalition that hit Gaddafi’s troops, which ultimately helped the rebels overthrow his regime. RFI writes that before Gaddafi’s death, he mentioned a “major secret” in his relations with the West. Meanwhile, Euronews quoted his son Saif al-Islam as saying in 2011: “First, Sarkozy has to give back the money he accepted from Libya to finance his electoral campaign. We financed his campaign and we have the proof and stand ready to publish it.”

“Since the end of his presidency, Mr. Sarkozy has faced multiple corruption inquiries, which are at various stages, and he has always denied any wrongdoing. In some cases, the charges were dropped; in others, investigations are continuing,” The New York Times writes. For example, in the so-called Bettencourt affair, in which the former head of state was suspected of manipulating the heiress to the L’Oreal fortune into financing his campaign, all the charges against him have been dropped.