What Is the Real Reason for Sarkozy’s Prison Sentence?
October 21, 2025 | Categories: Articles & Columns | Tags: |  Print This Article
What Is the Real Reason for Sarkozy’s Prison Sentence?
Paul Craig Roberts
I never cared for former French president Nicolas Sarkozy. Nevertheless, I see his conviction for campaign funding irregularities as a payback for something other than the official charge. I am puzzled by, and have read no explanation of, why the establishment, including Washington, that selected him as France’s president after serving as a mayor for two decades, turned on its candidate.
The official narrative is corruption, a charge that could be applied to most politicians who enter the public arena to serve their careers and fortunes, not to serve a nebulous “public interest.”
The charge on which Sarkozy was convicted is too commonplace to be taken seriously. Declared by the presiding judge to be of “exceptional gravity,” it amounts to a promise to help Libya restore its standing in international affairs in exchange for political campaign contributions. It is unclear whether the deal was ever put into operation or is anything more than an alleged plot.
Exchanging political favors for campaign contributions is the way democracy functions. The US Supreme Court has legalized the right of organized interests to purchase government favors. We might reason that Sarkozy violated a norm by dealing with foreign interests instead of merely domestic ones. However, President Trump openly brags about the $148 million that Miriam Adelson, America’s richest Jew, gave to his political campaign, along with 67 million from Paul Singer and $64 million from Michael Bloomberg. In exchange, President Trump diligently attends to Israel’s interest.
As for influence peddling, no charges have been brought against Biden, his son Hunter, or Bill and Hilary Clinton.
The question before us is what is Sarkozy’s real offense that has caused him a five year prison sentence in solitary confinement?
I sometimes remark on the decline of the West to third world levels where the incoming government prosecutes the outgoing one. The Democrats did their best to imprison Donald Trump and would have succeeded had he not won reelection. Now the French have imprisoned a former president on nebulous charges. The tendency to ban or arrest political opponents is becoming characteristic of Western countries. I see the weaponization of politics as further evidence that the West is in its end days. |
