Sarkozy sentenced to five years in prison

A Paris court found former French president Nicolas Sarkozy guilty over the financing of his 2007 election campaign and sentenced him to five years in prison, BFMTV reported.

The court said the sentence would be served with a suspension of immediate arrest. Prosecutors said Sarkozy’s close associates struck a “corruption pact” with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, which provided illegal funding for his campaign.

The case over Sarkozy’s alleged ties to Gaddafi’s regime had been under investigation in France for more than a decade and became one of the most high-profile trials in the country’s political history.