Overview
- The Parquet national financier asked to send 11 people to trial, seeking to charge Nicolas Sarkozy with criminal conspiracy to commit organized judicial fraud and receiving the subornation of a witness.
- Carla Bruni is targeted for criminal conspiracy, while Michèle “Mimi” Marchand faces alleged witness tampering and a conspiracy count tied to attempts to corrupt Lebanese judicial actors.
- According to the requisition reported by Le Parisien, prosecutors view Sarkozy as the beneficiary rather than the originator of the operation, and AFP notes a partial non-prosecution request for Bruni on the receipt-of-subornation count.
- The case centers on the late Ziad Takieddine’s 2020 retraction in media interviews—dubbed “Sauvez/Sauver Sarko” by participants—with investigators citing phone taps, alleged payments and efforts linked to proceedings in Lebanon.
- An investigating judge will decide on any trial as parties file observations and appeals seek annulments, while separately Sarkozy’s conviction in the Libyan-financing case is on appeal with a retrial slated to open on March 16, 2026.