Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been found guilty of criminal conspiracy in a case related to taking millions of euros of illicit funds from the late Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi. The Paris criminal court acquitted him of all other charges, including passive corruption and illegal campaign financing. Sarkozy, who claims the case is politically motivated, was accused of using the funds from Gaddafi to finance his 2007 election campaign. In exchange, the prosecution alleged Sarkozy promised to help Gaddafi combat his reputation as a pariah with Western countries. Sarkozy, 70, was the president of France from 2007 to 2012. The investigation was opened in 2013, two years after Saif al-Islam, son of the then-Libyan leader, first accused Sarkozy of taking millions of his father's money for campaign funding. In the following year, Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine - a former middleman between France and the Middle East - claimed to have written proof that Sarkozy's campaign bid was 'abundantly' financed by Tripoli, with payments continuing after he became president. Sarkozy's wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, was charged last year with hiding evidence linked to the Gaddafi case, which she denies. Since losing his re-election bid in 2012, Sarkozy has faced several criminal investigations, including a February 2024 ruling that found him guilty of overspending on his 2012 campaign. In 2021, he was sentenced for attempting to bribe a judge, marking him as the first former French president to receive a custodial sentence.}