Ex-president Sarkozy to face trial in France

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy will stand trial for corruption in France over accusations that he improperly tried to obtain confidential information from a French magistrate, The New York Times reports.

Wiretaps on phones belonging to Sarkozy reportedly overheard the former president and his attorney discussing how to obtain confidential information from a top French magistrate in 2014.

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Sarkozy is accused of then approaching the magistrate and promising to use his influence to secure a job for the judge, Gilbert Azibert, who now also faces charges.

Lawyers for Sarkozy, who also faces charges over campaign funding for his unsuccessful 2012 reelection bid, said in a statement that “he has no doubt, once again, that truth will triumph in the end.”

Sarkozy also faces a third set of charges targeting his 2007 successful bid for France’s presidency, over accusations that his campaign was illegally financed in part by the government of now-dead Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Though the three sets of charges are all separate, the wiretaps that uncovered the evidence used in the most recent set of charges stemmed from the Libya investigation surrounding his 2007 campaign.

Under French law, Sarkozy could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.