Photo credit: @FRANCE24 | Twitter

Breaking news from France this morning where former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was held in police custody for questioning as the Paris justice department moves into higher gear with their investigation into the illegal funding of Mr. Sarkozy’s election campaign by the former regime of Libyan dictator Khadaffi.

A former aide of Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy (who ruled France from 2007 till 2012 when he was defeated by Mr. François Hollande) named Mr. Alexandre Djouhri, was arrested in London recently and has provided police with details as to the illegal funding.

According to judicial sources, Mr. Sarkozy is currently being held in Nanterre, a suburb in western Paris.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Former French president Sarkozy in custody over Libya funding probe <a href="https://t.co/LWI6XB6UCt">https://t.co/LWI6XB6UCt</a> <a href="https://t.co/x7qpogs9Iu">pic.twitter.com/x7qpogs9Iu</a></p>— FRANCE 24 English (@France24_en) <a href="https://twitter.com/France24_en/status/976019668149284865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 20, 2018</a></blockquote>

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The French justice department opened an investigation into the Libya connection as from 2013, shortly after Mr. Sarkozy had abandoned the presidency.

The rumor that his campaign had benefited from illicit funds from Gaddafi was very troubling and many claim that this is what failed his bid to return as a presidential candidate in 2017. Mr. Sarkozy has always denied any wrongdoing in the matter although there are documents circulating on the internet that Mr. Gaddafi personally paid Mr. Sarkozy €50million.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">In April 2012, the investigative website Mediapart published a document it said was signed by a senior Libyan figure stating the regime approved a payment of €50m to “support” Sarkozy’s election campaign. <a href="https://t.co/6728VgstmW">https://t.co/6728VgstmW</a></p>— MagdalenaElGhamari (@JaLibijja) <a href="https://twitter.com/JaLibijja/status/976020207192956930?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 20, 2018</a></blockquote>

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The allegations of illegal funding stem from a French-Lebanese businessman named Mr. Ziad Takieddine, as well as many of the former Gaddafi regime officials.

Source:

http://www.lemonde.fr/police-justice/article/2018/03/20/financement-libyen-de-la-campagne-de-2007-nicolas-sarkozy-en-garde-a-vue_5273446_1653578.html