FRANCE-JUSTICE-TRIAL-POLITICS-CORRUPTION-LIBYA

This courtroom sketch created on February 10, 2025, shows defendant and former French president Nicolas Sarkozy (L) sitting next to defendant and former Interior minister Brice Hortefeux, during the trial on charges of accepting illegal campaign financing in an alleged pact with the late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi, at the Tribunal Judiciaire courthouse in Paris. Twelve suspects are standing trial, including former close aides, accused of devising a pact with late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi to illegally fund Sarkozy's victorious 2007 election bid. They deny the charges. If convicted, Sarkozy faces up to 10 years in prison under the charges of concealing embezzlement of public funds and illegal campaign financing. (Photo by Benoit PEYRUCQ / AFP) (Photo by BENOIT PEYRUCQ/AFP via Getty Images)