The legal team of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has requested a court-appointed expert to verify an anonymous audio recording purportedly featuring a conversation between Sarkozy and former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. This request was made during Sarkozy’s trial over allegations that Libya financed his 2007 presidential campaign.
According to Le Monde, Sarkozy’s defence team received the recording via email a month ago. The audio allegedly captures a discussion between Sarkozy and Gaddafi, through translators, about Africa’s role in the United Nations. While the tape does not reference campaign funding, Sarkozy’s lawyers argue it proves Gaddafi recorded his conversations and that such recordings were not destroyed during Libya’s 2011 conflict.
The defence maintains that if Libyan officials had genuine evidence against Sarkozy, they would have released these recordings, reinforcing their claim that no illicit funding agreement existed.
During a court session, as the judge prepared to play the recording, the prosecutor objected, questioning why it had not been submitted earlier. “We are not in a theatre or a film set; we do not create dramatic effects,” the prosecutor stated. The court is set to hear expert opinions before deciding on the tape’s admissibility.
Further scrutiny has been placed on Sarkozy’s former campaign director, Claude Guéant, regarding his 2007 rental of a large safe deposit box in Paris. Guéant told the court he stored sensitive documents there due to a lack of space at the campaign headquarters. However, prosecutors suspect the vault housed cash allegedly sent by Gaddafi to fund Sarkozy’s campaign, reportedly delivered in suitcases by businessman Ziad Takieddine.
Prosecutors also highlighted discrepancies in Sarkozy’s 2012 re-election expenses, which exceeded his 2007 campaign costs by €43 million. They questioned whether Libyan funds contributed to the earlier campaign, an allegation Sarkozy has firmly denied.
