The scandal that shakes France after the elections

The French neighbours are not raising their heads. In addition to the wave of street violence in recent months, the resurgence of the extreme right in the last elections and the failure of their national team against Spain in the semi-finals of the European Championship, there is also the political scandal involving the former president of France. Nicolas Sarkozy and the former ‘first lady’ of the Elysee, Carla BrownThe 56-year-old actress was charged on Tuesday as part of an investigation into alleged illegal financing of Libya’s 2007 election campaign.

The investigation began in 2021, following a complaint by Franco-Lebanese arms dealer Ziad Takkiedine. He claimed to have acted as an intermediary between Sarkozy and Gaddafi and that the dictator had financed the Frenchman’s election campaign with more than five million euros. He withdrew the complaint shortly after but the police continued with the investigation under suspicions that the offender had been bribed with 600,000 euros to drop the charges. In 2023, France’s National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) indicted the former French president and several of his collaborators.

On Tuesday, his wife and then First Lady, Carla Bruni, was summoned to testify. After hearing her story, the judge decided to charge her as well. “witness tampering cover-up” y “participation in a criminal association with a view to committing a crime of fraud in an organized gang process”The singer was released under judicial supervision and was prohibited from having any kind of contact with the rest of those involved, except for her husband.

16 years married and a daughter in common

The actress has been an unconditional support for Nicolas Sarkozy in recent years. They met on a blind date when he was still married to his second wife: “Between the first call and the dinner date, he divorced. For me it was a big surprise, because I didn’t know that ‘love at first sight’ could exist, but it does,” she said in an interview. Just one year later, on February 2, 2008, they married in a discreet ceremony held at the Elysée Palace and celebrated at a small party at the La Lanterne restaurant. In 2011 they had a his first and only daughter, GiuliaA year later, Sarkozy lost to Hollande. They left the palace but remained in the media spotlight after the tsunami of accusations against the former president, including corruption and illegal wiretapping, among many others.

Since then, the politician has faced several legal proceedings and in 2021 he was sentenced to three years in prison (one of them mandatory compliance with a regime of deprivation of liberty with detention at home with an electronic bracelet), a sentence that was appealed but refuted by the Court of Appeals: “What insane relentlessness, my love… the fight continues, the truth will come to light”she defended him on her social networks.

Now Sarkozy’s shady dealings have also affected Carla Bruni, who will have to prove her innocence in a trial that is expected to be long and complicated.