Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy told a Paris court on Thursday that allegations of illegal Libyan financing of his successful 2007 presidential campaign are a "conspiracy". He categorically denied the presence of any Libyan funds in his campaign, "Reuters" quoted him as saying.
Sarkozy, who was president of France from 2007 to 2012, is accused of concealing the misuse of public funds, illegal campaign financing and criminal conspiracy. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 375,000 euros.
The charges include an alleged agreement with the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to receive millions of euros in secret funding in exchange for easing Libya's international isolation.
The investigation began in 2013 after the French investigative website Mediapart published a memo purportedly from Libyan intelligence services that mentioned a deal between Gaddafi and Sarkozy.
"This is a conspiracy," Sarkozy told the court, calling the memo "a gross forgery". He stressed that more than a decade of investigations have failed to find any evidence of the existence of millions of euros.
"The money from corruption is the big missing link in this case because there is no corruption," Sarkozy said, adding that investigators had found nothing to support the charges.
Among the 12 defendants in the case are his former close aide Claude Gueant, former interior minister Bris Ortefeuille and his then campaign finance chief Eric Woert. Both Gueant and Ortefeuille have denied any wrongdoing.
Sarkozy, now 69, has faced multiple trials in recent years, including a conviction for corruption and influence peddling. Instead of prison, he was sentenced to wear an electronic bracelet for one year.
The trial is scheduled to continue until April 10.