Nicolas Sarkozy should stand trial over 'illegal' election funding, say prosecutors
The French prosecution authorities say the former president should face court proceedings over his role in the “illegal” funding of his failed 2012 presidential election campaign which spent more than double the legal spending limit. It is now for the investigating judges to have the final say as to whether Sarkzoy and others should finally face trial or not. If he is sent for trial it will be a potential blow to the ex-president's political hopes ahead of the 2017 presidential election in which he hopes to be a candidate. But, crucially, any such trial would not be scheduled before next May's election – and if Sarkozy is elected president it would be postponed until 2022 at the earliest. Mathilde Mathieu reports.
FormerFormer president Nicolas Sarkozy should stand trial for the “illegal” funding of his failed 2012 presidential election campaign, say French prosecutors. It is now for the judges who carried out the original investigation to make the final decision – expected within the next month – as to whether Sarkozy will be sent for trial.
