(FILES) The wreckage of the French UTA DC-10 flight 772 lay on the sands of the Tenere desert, on September 21, 1989 after the passenger plane exploded overhere on September 19, 1989 killing all 171 people aboard, because of a bomb in the luggage tank of the plane. In September 2025, the Paris criminal court handed down a heavy sentence against Nicolas Sarkozy, punishing "corruption at the highest level" of "exceptional gravity" in order "to obtain Libya's commitment to provide financial support" for his 2007 presidential campaign. Nicolas Sarkozy, who has always disputed this account, will now have to challenge on appeal the findings of the trial judges, who identified him as both an actor in and a beneficiary of a criminal conspiracy starting on March 16, 2026. (Photo by Christian SPILLMANN / AFP via Getty Images)