The 2020 trial in France for the former French President Nicolas Sarkozy dealt with allegations that he bribed a judge with a retirement package in return for information on an investigation into alleged campaign finance violations due to payments he is said to have received from heiress Liliane Bettencourt.
[2][3] On 4 December 2020, Ziad Takieddine, a Lebanese businessman who allegedly helped finance Sarkozy's 2007 presidential election campaign with help from former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, was detained in Lebanon,[4] although he was allowed a conditional prison release a few days later after agreeing to abide by a travel ban.
[12][13] On 20 May 2021, a new criminal trial related to illegal campaign funding began for Sarkozy, as well as 13 other defendants who were said to have been involved in the Bygmalion scandal.
[14] Sarkozy's second corruption trial involved allegations of diverting tens of millions of euros intended to be spent on his failed 2012 re-election campaign and then hiring a PR firm to cover it up.
[16] On December 18, 2024, the Court of Cassation rejected Nicolas Sarkozy's appeal in cassation and the co-defendants, thus making Nicolas Sarkozy's conviction final, who immediately announced that they would refer the matter to the European Court of Human Rights.