PARIS
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been put under official investigation on charges of corruption and misuse of influence as part of a probe into alleged illegal financing of his 2007 election campaign, according to French media.
The decision to charge Sarkozy came after he spent 15 hours in custody being questioned in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday in what was the first time in history a French head of state had been taken into custody.
Sarkozy, the French president from 2007 to 2012, was initially detained by investigators for allegedly interfering in an investigation into political donations - regarded as "influence peddling" in French law and which carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.
Christian Estrosi, deputy of the Union for a Popular Movement, said that no former French president had before been subjected to such treatment and claimed that the judiciary had not acted impartially while conducting the investigation.
Phone calls bugged
Sarkozy's lawyer Thierry Herzog and two judges, Patrick Sassoust and Gilbert Azibert, from France's Court of Cassation and the High Court of Appeal, are also being investigated.
Private broadcaster BFM said the four were being questioned as part of an inquiry linked to allegations Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi helped finance Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential campaign.
French government spokesperson Stephane Le Foll denied the claims, telling television programme I Tele television that Sarkozy was a citizen like any other and had the right to the presumption of innocence.
French media said investigating judges had bugged Sarkozy's phone calls in April as part of an investigation into the alleged Gaddafi donations.
Sarkozy had previously been reported to be considering a run for the presidency in 2017.
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