French prosecutors have called for a seven-year prison sentence against former president Nicolas Sarkozy at his ongoing appeal trial over allegations that his 2007 presidential campaign was illegally funded by the regime of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. The request, made at the Paris Court of Appeal after three days of closing arguments described by prosecutors as a "fierce" indictment, matches the sentence sought during the original trial. Sarkozy was previously convicted and sentenced to five years in prison, spending 20 days behind bars before being released pending appeal. A verdict in the current proceedings is expected on 30 November.

Prosecutors portrayed Sarkozy as "the principal, the sole beneficiary" and "the instigator" of an alleged corrupt pact with the Libyan regime. The case centres on claims that Sarkozy — then serving as interior minister under President Jacques Chirac — struck a secret agreement with Gaddafi to receive covert funds in exchange for political favours, notably a promise to examine the judicial situation of Abdallah Senoussi, Gaddafi's intelligence chief and brother-in-law. Senoussi had been convicted in absentia by a French court for his alleged role in the 1989 bombing of a UTA DC-10 aircraft over Niger, which killed 170 people. Two clandestine meetings in Libya in late 2005, involving Sarkozy aides Claude Guéant and Brice Hortefeux, allegedly laid the groundwork, and around €6 million reportedly flowed from Libyan accounts to intermediary Ziad Takieddine — since deceased — in 2006. Prosecutors also requested a €100,000 fine and five years of ineligibility for public office. At appeal, the prosecution went further than at first instance, asking judges to convict Sarkozy not only of criminal conspiracy but also of corruption, illegal campaign financing, and handling of misappropriated Libyan public funds.

Sarkozy has consistently denied all wrongdoing, insisting that "not one cent" of Libyan money entered his campaign or personal finances. His lawyer Christophe Ingrain vowed to demonstrate the former president's "perfect innocence" when the defence presents its closing arguments in approximately two weeks. Co-defendants Guéant and Hortefeux also face significant sentences, with prosecutors requesting six years and four years respectively — largely in line with first-instance rulings.

The case is considered one of the gravest political-financial scandals in the history of France's Fifth Republic, the system of government established in 1958 under Charles de Gaulle. If convicted again on 30 November, Sarkozy's only remaining legal avenue would be a further appeal to France's Court of Cassation, the country's highest court for civil and criminal matters. Victims of the UTA bombing, who are civil parties to the trial, have followed proceedings closely. Guillaume Denoix de Saint Marc, founder of a French victims' association linked to the attack, welcomed the prosecution's demands, saying he hoped Sarkozy would "return to prison, at least long enough to write a second book."