A few months after having appeared before the Paris Court of Appeal in the context of the wiretapping trial, Nicolas Sarkozy could find the bench of the defendants, this time at the Paris Criminal Court. The National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) requested, in its final indictment notified to the parties on Thursday, May 11, the referral to court of the former President of the Republic and twelve of his relatives, as part of the investigation into the financing of its 2007 electoral campaign. The parties have one month to submit their observations to the investigating judge, who will then decide whether or not to follow the prosecution.
In a press release, the PNF specifies that it wants the former head of state to be tried for “concealment of embezzlement of public funds”, “passive corruption”, “illegal financing of the electoral campaign” and “criminal association”. . According to a source familiar with the matter, the PNF is requesting the dismissal of all those previously indicted, on most qualifications, “with a few technical non-places, on the margins, and requalifications in influence peddling”.
Nicolas Sarkozy had been indicted for “corruption”, “concealment of embezzlement of public funds [libyens] and “illicit election campaign financing” in March 2018, then for “criminal association” in October 2020.
The investigation was opened five years after Nicolas Sarkozy’s first victorious campaign, between the two presidential rounds of 2012, following the publication by Mediapart a document claiming that his 2007 campaign had been financed by the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.