Sarkozy Indicted Over Libyan Financing of 2007 Election Campaign – Reports

Corruption is Everywhere - French Presidential Elections

© FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy is reportedly under formal investigation over allegations that his 2007 election campaign received funding from the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

According to a source in the judiciary, Sarkozy is being investigated for illicit campaign financing, misappropriation of Libyan public funds and passive corruption, Reuters reports. According to Le Monde, several former senior figures in the Gaddafi regime have provided new evidence confirming the allegations of illicit financing.

Sarkozy, who was president of France from 2007 to 2012, denies the allegations. The former French president faced two days of questioning before being released from judicial detention on Wednesday afternoon.

The allegations against Sarkozy emerged in 2012 and a judicial inquiry was launched in 2013. In November 2016, middleman Ziad Takieddine said he transported €5 million from Tripoli to Paris in late 2006 and early 2007.

Takieddine’s statements corroborated remarks made by the former director of military intelligence of the Gaddafi regime, Abdallah Senoussi, in his evidence to the National Transitional Council of Libya, the de facto Libyan government during the country’s civil war.

Protesters Demand Netanyahu Resign over Possible Indictment

Corruption is Everywhere - but in Israel?

By Ed Adamczyk 

Israeli protesters hold signs during a protest Friday in Tel Aviv, Israel, calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

to resign amid a police recommendation that the leader be indicted for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in two

corruption cases. Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI | License Photo

UPI -- Israeli protesters rallied in Tel Aviv Friday to demand Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's resignation, due to a potential indictment on bribery charges.

Former Israel Police Commissioner and one-time Netanyahu supporter Assaf Hefetz spoke at the midday rally in Tel Aviv's Habima Square. The audience was estimated to include between 1,000 and 2,000 people.

Israeli police announced Tuesday that enough evidence exists to charge Netanyahu with bribery and breach of trust over alleged receipt of $283,000 in gifts from business leaders.

Collusion is also alleged between the Israeli leader and a newspaper publisher, by which Netanyahu purportedly granted political favors in exchange for favorable media coverage.

"There is not one public figure who would have remained in his post with the recommendations of two bribery cases. Bibi must resign," Hefetz said.

Netanyahu has denied the allegations of corruption, and said he won't resign or turn state affairs over to an acting prime minister while Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit decides whether to pursue the case.

Another speaker, former judge Oded Eligon, referred to Netanyahu and wife Sara as "our royal couple."

Sara Netanyahu has been under police investigation for alleged misuse of public funds.

The protest on Friday was organized by left-wing Israeli political groups who have run weekly anti-Netanyahu demonstrations -- mostly in Tel Aviv and nearby Petah Tivka -- for over a year.