Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was condemned to jail for five years earlier today by a French court.

He was found guilty of participating in illicit funding and a criminal conspiracy involving the late Libyan President, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

The 70-year-old Sarkozy told the Paris Criminal Court that he would appeal the ruling.

Nicolas Sarkozy served as president of France between 2007 and 2012. He said allegations that he took money from Gaddafi in exchange for positioning the Libyan leader favourably in the West were politically motivated.

On being the first French president to be sentenced to jail, an unbearable humiliation, Sarkozy said: “If they absolutely want me to sleep in jail, I will sleep in jail but with my head held high. I am innocent. This injustice is a scandal.”

In 2021, Sarkozy was found guilty of trying to bribe a judge. His wife, the Italian-born singer and former supermodel Carla Bruni, was accused of hiding evidence connected to the Gaddafi money scandal. She was charged by French authorities. 

The French court said that despite Sarkozy’s intention to appeal he will be going to jail from tonight. It declared he was guilty of criminal association and used money from Libya to fund his election campaign.

“The goal of the criminal conspiracy was to give you an advantage in the electoral campaign,” said the judge at sentencing.

“I ask the French people, whether they voted for me or not, whether they support me or not, to grasp what has just happened. Hatred truly knows no bounds,” said Nicolas Sarkozy.