Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has vigorously denounced a “plot” he said was staged by “liars and crooks” on Thursday at a Paris trial over the alleged illegal financing of his 2007 presidential campaign by the Libyan government led by former leader Moammar Gadhafi.

The case also involves Gaddafi’s former chief of staff and treasurer, Bashir Saleh, who sought refuge in France during the Libyan civil war and then moved to South Africa, where he survived a shooting in 2018, before settling in the United Arab Emirates.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrives for a hearing in his trial with twelve other defendants on charges of corruption and illegal financing of an election campaign related to alleged Libyan funding of his successful 2007 presidential bid,

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, on trial charged with accepting illegal campaign financing, told a court Thursday he had never accepted any money from the late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi.