Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy returned to the witness stand on Wednesday to be questioned about two sworn written statements from Claude Guéant, his former friend who served as chief of staff, secretary-general, and eventually interior minister during his administration.
Now 81, Guéant was excused from attending court proceedings due to health matters.
A key figure in Sarkozy’s ascent to the Élysée Palace, he learned in March that Sarkozy had questioned his integrity at the Paris Court of Appeal by suggesting that his former right-hand man may have been motivated by personal financial gain.
Guéant fired back in statements the following month contradicting his former boss – without directly accusing him – and shattering what had until now been a united front. Guéant insists he did nothing more than “follow instructions” given by Sarkozy.
The stakes are high for Sarkozy, with both his legacy as president and his personal freedom on the line. He spent 20 days behind bars in November following his conviction on criminal conspiracy charges, when he was sentenced to five years in prison.
If convicted on appeal, he faces up to 10 years in prison. The trial is set to conclude in late May and a verdict is expected in November.
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Sarkozy was found guilty in September of having allowed Guéant and former interior minister Brice Hortefeux, another longtime associate and friend, to negotiate illegal political funding from Libyan authorities – something all three men deny.
In return, Libyan officials allegedly sought diplomatic and economic favours as well as a review of the conviction of Abdallah Senoussi, brother-in-law to former dictator Muammar Gaddafi and the regime’s second-in-command. Senoussi was the subject of an international arrest warrant after being sentenced in France to life imprisonment for ordering the September 19, 1989, bombing of a French aircraft flying over Niger in which 170 people died, including 54 French nationals.
Guéant has said that Sarkozy tasked him with looking into Senoussi’s legal case – at the request and in the presence of Gaddafi – during an official dinner in Tripoli on July 25, 2007. A top presidential aide and Sarkozy’s secretary-general at the time, Guéant was convicted in September 2025 to six years in prison for his role in the Libyan campaign funding affair.
During a fifth day of questioning, the appeals court asked Sarkozy about this directly.
Speaking from the stand, he contradicted Guéant’s account, denying both that Gaddafi raised his brother-in-law’s case during the 2007 dinner and that he had asked Guéant to look into the matter.
“The only time Mr. Gaddafi spoke to me about it was in 2005,” Sarkozy said, referring to a previous visit he made to Libya as interior minister, adding that he categorically rejected the request.
‘Corruption pact’
The 2005 Libya meeting was reportedly attended by Sarkozy’s friend and former lawyer Thierry Herzog and his colleague Francis Szpiner to assess Senoussi’s legal situation. Despite initially claiming to know nothing about the discussions, faced with the evidence presented at court, Sarkozy eventually acknowledged that the meeting took place but says he did not initiate it. He told the court that “nobody told him about this meeting”.
According to Guéant, he and Herzog discussed the Senoussi matter after he had his own secret meeting with Senoussi: a one-on-one encounter on October 1, 2005, that prosecutors are convinced marked the first act of what they are calling a “corruption pact”. Guéant previously denied recalling whether he had informed Sarkozy of the meeting.
Guéant wrote in his April statements that the former president “must have known” about his four trips to Libya between 2008 and 2010, as they were carried out “at his request”.
Sarkozy says no promises were made regarding Mr. Senoussi. “What I know is that nothing was undertaken for Mr. Senoussi’s benefit. Nothing was promised,” he said.
On this point, Guéant agrees with Sarkozy. While he did look into Senoussi’s legal situation, he was fully aware that nothing could be done.
Speaking on France Inter radio, Guéant’s lawyer Philippe Bouchez El Ghozi said that Sarkozy’s remarks about his client have caused “great harm to his morale”.
He added: “I think it will be very hard for him to get over this – if he ever does.”
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)