(FILES) Brice Hortefeux, defendant and former Interior minister, arrives for the verdict in the trial of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy for illegal campaign financing from Libya for his successful 2007 presidential bid, at the Tribunal de Paris courthouse in Paris, on September 25, 2025. 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 JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP via Getty Images)