French court to rule in September in Sarkozy Libya funding case - judge

PARIS — A French court will rule on September 25 in the trial of former president Nicolas Sarkozy on charges he accepted illegal campaign financing from late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi, a judge said Tuesday.

Sarkozy, who was president from 2007 to 2012 has denied the charges. He is already serving a one-year sentence with an electronic bracelet in a separate influence-peddling case.

Prosecutors argue that the former conservative leader and his aides devised a pact with Kadhafi in 2005 to illegally fund his victorious presidential election bid two years later.

They have requested the 70-year-old serve a seven-year prison sentence, pay a fine of 300,000 euros ($330,000) and be handed a five-year ban on holding office.

As the trial ended Tuesday, Sarkozy described the prosecution demand as "political and violent" in a "hateful media and political context".

"I am not here to do politics but to defend my honour and for the truth to be established," he said, refusing to comment further.

His trial closed soon after another Paris court sentenced far-right leader Marine Le Pen to a jail term and a five-year ban on running for office for embezzling European Union funds, throwing into doubt her bid to stand for president in 2027.

The move has stunned France's political establishment and infuriated her National Rally party.