Seven-year prison term requested against Sarkozy in Libyan financing appeal trial

French former president Nicolas Sarkozy, at an appeals court in Paris, France, on May 13, 2026. TOM NICHOLSON / REUTERS French prosecutors requested a seven-year prison sentence for former president Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday, May 13, in an appeal trial on charges that he sought to acquire Libyan funding for his 2007 election campaign. Sarkozy, who served as France's right-wing leader from 2007 to 2012, has always denied any wrongdoing. Last year, he became modern France's first former president to have gone to jail after the initial sentence for the case, before he was released after 20 days, pending his appeal trial.