Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been handed a five-year prison sentence after being found guilty of criminal conspiracy.
Sarkozy, who has always denied the charges, was accused of making a deal with late Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi to help finance his 2007 election campaign.
The judge, who acquitted Sarkozy of other charges, including corruption, said there was no proof that Sarkozy made such a deal with Gaddafi, nor that money that was sent from Libya reached Sarkozy's campaign coffers.
Sarkozy's sentence means he will go to prison regardless of whether or not he launches an appeal.
The judge also ordered Sarkozy to pay a €100,000 fine.
The 70-year-old, who was president from 2007 to 2012, has been on trial since January.
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Nicolas Sarkozy was joined by his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy for the verdict of his trial
|REUTERS
He was found guilty of criminal conspiracy between 2005 and 2007.
The court said that after 2007, he was president and therefore covered by presidential immunity.
Sarkozy was joined by his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, for the verdict of his trial today.
The former president had repeatedly denied any guilt and said the case was politically motivated.
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Despite lingering legal headaches and having his Legion of Honour, France's highest distinction, stripped in June, Sarkozy remains an influential figure on the French political stage.
He recently met with his former protege, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu.
Sarkozy has faced legal battles since leaving office in 2012.
Nicolas Sarkozy was president of France from 2007 to 2012
|REUTERS
Last year, France's highest court upheld his conviction for corruption and influence peddling, ordering him to wear an electronic tag for a year, a first for a former French head of state.
The tag has since been removed.
Also last year, an appeals court confirmed a separate conviction for illegal campaign financing over his failed re-election bid in 2012.
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