‘You won’t find a cent,’ Nicolas Sarkozy tells court

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has angrily denied he ­accepted any money from ­Muammar Gaddafi.

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy arrives at court in Paris eralier this week. Picture: AFP

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy angrily denied he had ­accepted any money from ­Muammar Gaddafi, as he defended himself in court against charges of receiving millions from the ­Libyan dictator to finance his first campaign for the presidency.

Gesturing towards the prosecutor, Sarkozy, 69, was in pugnacious form as he gave his first response at trial to the gravest of three criminal cases brought against him for ­alleged fraud or corruption since he left office in 2012.

Three former cabinet ministers, all close Sarkozy aides, are among 11 others accused.

“You will never ever find a­ single euro, a single Libyan cent, in my campaign (funds),” Sarkozy told the judges.

Judges concluded after a 10-year investigation that Sarkozy had a personal pact with Gaddafi in October 2005, when he was interior minister and a prospective presidential candidate.

Sarkozy allegedly took funds in return for working to end the Libyan leader’s status as an international ­pariah.

Sarkozy, who is about to serve a year at home with an ankle tag after being convicted of bribing a judge, told the court that he was the victim of “liars and crooks” who faked a case against him.

Gaddafi began the calumny in 2011, when he falsely claimed he had paid for Sarkozy’s 2007 election, the former president said.

Gaddafi was furious at the time he made the claim because Sarkozy was leading a NATO military air campaign to back rebels who overthrew and killed him later that year.

Sarkozy, who faces a possible maximum 10-year prison term if convicted, told the court he was angry after “10 years of slander, 48 hours in police custody, 60 hours of questioning and 10 years of ­investigation”.

“What have we found? Nothing, as far as I am concerned. There is no corruption money ­because there was no corruption of the candidate,” he said.

He would answer every question put to him throughout his trial, which is to run until April 10.

Prosecutors had admitted that they lacked proof of money transfers to Sarkozy and his entourage, which were allegedly made mainly in suitcases stuffed with large-­denomination dollar bills. These were delivered in part by Ziad Takieddine, a Libyan-French arms dealer, the prosecution says.

Takieddine, who is an uncle of Amal Clooney, the human rights lawyer married to the actor ­George Clooney, gave police a ­detailed account of handing the money to Sarkozy’s team. ­Between $US4m and $US50m was allegedly given to the ­campaign.

“There is no evidence in the ­financial dossier,” the investigating judges said in their 550-page indictment. “There is a flow of funding that can be reconstituted ... with the help of testimony and the analysis of documents. In corruption cases, (absolute) proof never exists.”

Sarkozy was “perfectly informed about the actions which were undertaken on his behalf by his associates most of the time”, they said.

Sarkozy’s former presidential chief of staff and interior minister, Claude Gueant, is accused of being the main intermediary with Tripoli. Sarkozy raised eyebrows when he hosted Gaddafi on a lavish state visit five months after he took office.

Sarkozy’s wife, Carla Bruni, is facing charges in a separate inquiry for allegedly taking part in an operation dubbed “Save Sarko” to bribe Takieddine to reverse his testimony against her husband.

The Times