Former French President Sarkozy arrested

He is being held as part of an ongoing investigation over campaign financing

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is in police custody after being arrested. He is being held as part of an ongoing investigation over campaign financing, according to a court source.

In 2014, France’s second-largest public television channel, France-3, made waves after airing an audio excerpt from an interview with Muammar Gaddafi. The late Libyan leader claimed that he financed Nicolas Sarkozy’s presidential campaign in 2007.

The former president’s alleged ties with Gaddafi came under the spotlight again in November 2016. In an interview with Mediapart, Ziad Takieddine, the man who introduced Nicolas Sarkozy to Muammar Gaddafi, confessed to having brought several suitcases containing €5 million prepared for the Libyan regime to the Ministry of the Interior in late 2006 and early 2007.