Ex-French president continues to face Libya money probe

By Hajer M'tiri

PARIS

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday faced a second day of questioning in police custody over the alleged illegal financing of his 2007 presidential campaign by the late Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi.

Investigators are trying to determine if Sarkozy secretly received 50 million euros ($56.8 million) from Gaddafi's regime for the 2007 campaign in which he defeated the Socialist Party’s Segolene Royal.

He was first taken into custody on Tuesday morning, but he later left the judicial police building in Nanterre at around midnight and spent the night at his house, according to French radio Europe 1.

It is considered unusual that a suspect under questioning gets to leave before the 48-hour period ends. Local media criticized the move, terming it as a privilege treatment to the ex-president because of his status.

Sarkozy could stay in police custody for up to 48 hours and might be presented afterwards to magistrates to either be charged and placed under formal investigation or get released without charges or asked to reappear at a later date.

This is the first time Sarkozy is being heard in the probe that was launched five years ago. The former French president, who served at the top post between 2007 and 2012, has always denied the allegations against him.

Judges Serge Tournaire and Aude Buresi have been working on the case involving the ex-president since April 2013 to determine if the 2007 presidential campaign of Sarkozy was the subject of illegal funding from Libya.

In June 2016, French judges ruled that a document claiming Sarkozy was offered 50 million euros ($56.8 million) as an election campaign donation by Gaddafi was authentic.

The document was first revealed by the investigative French news site, Mediapart, in 2012.

In 2016, French daily Le Monde revealed “the existence of a vast criminal system, involving senior officials linked to Sarkozy.

“This network, dedicated to the protection of the former head of state, is composed of police officers or magistrates who remained loyal to the former president, but also businessmen, intermediaries, diplomats and even journalists.”

This organized network had allegedly been set up after the arrival of Sarkozy at the Interior Ministry in 2002, which strengthened further after he entered the presidential Elysee Palace in 2007.