PARIS: Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, already convicted twice in separate cases since leaving office, on Monday goes on trial charged with accepting illegal campaign financing in an alleged pact with the late Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi.
The career of Sarkozy has been shadowed by legal troubles since he lost the 2012 presidential election. But he remains an influential figure for many on the right and is also known to regularly meet President Emmanuel Macron.
The fiercely ambitious and energetic politician, 69, who is married to the model and singer Carla Bruni and while in power from 2007-2012 liked to be known as the “hyper-president,” has been convicted in two cases, charged in another and is being investigated in connection with two more.
Sarkozy will be in the dock at the Paris court barely half a month after France’s top appeals court on December 18 rejected his appeal against a one year prison sentence for influence peddling, which he is to serve by wearing an electronic bracelet rather than in jail.
The latest trial is the result of a decade of investigations into accusations that Sarkozy accepted illegal campaign financing — reportedly amounting to some 50 million euros — from Qaddafi to help his victorious 2007 election campaign.
In exchange, it is alleged, Sarkozy and senior figures pledged to help Qaddafi rehabilitate his international image after Tripoli was blamed for bombing attacks on Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988 over Lockerbie in Scotland and UTA Flight 772 in 1989 that killed hundreds of passengers.
Sarkozy has denounced the accusations as part of a conspiracy against him, insisting that he never received any financing for the campaign from Qaddafi and that there is no evidence of any such transfer.
At a time when many Western countries were courting Qaddafi for energy deals as the maverick dictator sought to emerge from decades of international isolation, the Libyan leader in December 2007 visited Paris, famously installing his tent in the center of the city.
But France then backed the UN-sanctioned military action that helped in 2011 oust Qaddafi, who was then killed by rebels. Sarkozy has said allegations from former members of Qaddafi’s inner circle over the alleged campaign financing are motivated by revenge.
If convicted, Sarkozy faces up to 10 years in prison under the charges of concealing embezzlement of public funds and illegal campaign financing. The trial is due to last until April 10.
Sarkozy “is awaiting these four months of hearings with determination. He will fight the artificial construction dreamed up by the prosecution. There was no Libyan financing of the campaign,” said his lawyer Christophe Ingrain.
Among 12 others facing trial over the alleged Libyan financing are heavyweights such as Sarkozy’s former right-hand man, Claude Gueant, his then-head of campaign financing, Eric Woerth, and former minister Brice Hortefeux.
“Claude Gueant will demonstrate that after more than ten years of investigation, none of the offenses he is accused of have been proven,” said his lawyer Philippe Bouchez El Ghozi, denouncing the cases as amounting to “assertions, hypotheses and other approximations.”
For the prosecution, the pact started in 2005 when Qaddafi and Sarkozy, then interior minister, met in Tripoli for a meeting ostensibly devoted to fighting illegal migration. But Sarkozy’s defense counters that no trace of the illegal financing was ever found in the campaign coffers.
The scandal erupted in April 2012, while Sarkozy was in the throes of his re-election campaign, when the Mediapart website published a bombshell article based on a document purportedly from December 2006 it said showed a former Libyan official evoking an agreement over the campaign financing.
Sarkozy has long contended that the document is not genuine.
An embittered Sarkozy would later narrowly lose the second round of the election to Socialist Francois Hollande.
Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine, a key figure in the case, had claimed several times that he helped deliver up to five million euros ($5.4 million at current rates) in cash from Qaddafi to Sarkozy and his chief of staff in 2006 and 2007.
But in 2020, Takieddine suddenly retracted his incriminating statement, raising suspicions that Sarkozy and close allies may have paid the witness to change his mind.
In a further twist, Sarkozy was charged in October 2023 with illegal witness tampering while Carla Bruni was last year charged with hiding evidence in the same case.
Sarkozy’s second conviction, in another campaign financing case, was confirmed last year by a Paris appeals court which ruled he should serve six months in prison, with another six months suspended. This verdict can still go to a higher domestic appeals court.
France’s ex-president Sarkozy on trial over alleged Qaddafi pact
https://arab.news/ns9k9
France’s ex-president Sarkozy on trial over alleged Qaddafi pact
- The career of Nicolas Sarkozy has been shadowed by legal troubles since he lost the 2012 presidential election
- Latest trial is the result of a decade of investigations into accusations that Sarkozy accepted illegal campaign financing
UK announces £1m fund to help track anti-Muslim hate crimes
- Money available to organizations that will monitor incidents of Islamophobic hate
- Religious hate crimes have risen to record levels since the Gaza war started
LONDON: The UK government on Wednesday announced £1 million in annual funding for a new service to monitor incidents of anti-Muslim hate and help victims.
The Combatting Hatred Against Muslims Fund will help counter Islamophobia and ensure Muslim communities feel safe, the government said.
The announcement comes as Muslims in Britain face a record number of Islamophobic incidents this year, according to police figures.
Last month it emerged that the UK was withdrawing funding for the Islamophobia reporting service Tell Mama. A report in the Byline Times last year said the organization had heavily underreported anti-Muslim hate crimes.
The new fund will be open from next week to applications from a single organization or a group of organizations working together to deliver an accurate record of hate incidents across England.
“Putting an end to the shocking rise of targeted attacks against Muslims requires a thorough understanding of the nature and scale of the hatred our Muslim communities face,” Lord Khan, the faith minister said. “That’s why we’re taking a crucial step forward this week to open this fund, seek new ideas and solutions, and tackle this hatred head on.”
Religious hate crimes have risen sharply in the UK since the Gaza war started in October 2023.
Last year, almost two in five of all religious hate crimes in England and Wales targeted Muslims, police figures showed, a 13 percent increase on the previous year.
The recipient of the grant will monitor and report Islamophobic incidents, raise awareness of hate crime, encourage victims to report incidents, and facilitate support for victims.
Up to £650,000 will be available in the 2025/26 financial year, and up to £1 million in the following years, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said.
Earlier this year, the UK set up a working group to provide the government with a working definition of anti-Muslim hatred and Islamophobia.
Trump tells Cabinet, others that Musk will leave soon, Politico reports
- Trump has tasked the Tesla and SpaceX CEO to lead efforts to cut government funding
- Shares of Tesla rebounded Wednesday following Politico's report
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has told members of his Cabinet and other close contacts that his billionaire ally Elon Musk will soon step back from his government role, Politico reported on Wednesday, citing three people close to Trump.
Trump has tasked the Tesla and SpaceX CEO to lead efforts to cut government funding and dismantle various US agencies as a special government employee.
Politico reported that both Trump and Musk decided in recent days that Musk will soon return to his businesses.
Representatives for the White House and the Musk-led task force could not be immediately reached to confirm the report.
Meanwhile, shares of Tesla rebounded Wednesday following the report Musk would soon retreat from his work for Trump’s administration, a role that has weighed on his electric car brand.
Shares jumped 3.8 percent shortly after midday following a Politico report that Musk would soon leave or sharply reduce his work for Trump. Shares had fallen more than six percent earlier Wednesday following weak first-quarter auto sales.
Modi government tables bill to take over centuries-old waqf management from Indian Muslims
- India has one of the largest number of waqf assets in the world, valued at around $14.2bn
- Waqf tradition in India can be traced back to the Delhi Sultanate period in the 13th century
NEW DELHI: The Indian government tabled on Wednesday a bill in parliament aimed at making sweeping changes to the decades-old Waqf Act, which governs vast tracts of properties run and managed by Muslims in the country.
With over 200 million Indians professing Islam, Hindu-majority India has the world’s largest Muslim-minority population.
The country has one of the largest numbers of waqf assets in the world, including over 870,000 properties spanning more than 900,000 hectares, with an estimated value of about $14.2 billion. Domestically, only the military and railways control more land.
In Islamic tradition, a waqf is a charitable or religious donation made by Muslims for the benefit of the community. Properties categorized as waqf, which typically involve mosques, schools, orphanages or hospitals, cannot be sold or used for other purposes.
In India, where the tradition of waqf can be traced back to the Delhi Sultanate period in the early 13th century, such properties are currently managed by about 30 government-established waqf boards, whose members are all Muslims.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, proposes more than 40 changes to the 1995 Waqf Act aimed at shifting the management of waqf properties from the boards to state governments, including the inclusion of non-Muslim members.
“The government is not interfering in any religious practice or institution. There is no provision in this to interfere in the management of any mosque. This is simply an issue of management of a property,” Minister of Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju, who tabled the bill, said during a parliament session on Wednesday.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board, which works to safeguard Islamic law in the country, said the bill could weaken waqf properties and their management.
“I think this bill has been brought with an intention to destroy the waqf board, not to improve it. The new law is very weak and aimed at attacking waqf properties,” board member Malik Mohtasim Khan told Arab News.
“They want to make a waqf law which is free from the influence of Muslims. I feel that their main aim is to make Muslims a second-class citizen.”
Indian Muslims have faced increasing discrimination and challenges in the past decade, accompanied by tensions and riots ignited by majoritarian policies of the Hindu right-wing BJP since it rose to power in 2014.
“They want to weaken Muslims’ rights in India,” Khan said. “The existing government has created such an atmosphere that there is no respect for parliamentary values and judicial values are also getting diluted. Today the Muslim community is being pushed to the margins. This is a lived reality.”
The bill’s fate will be decided with a vote by the ruling alliance and opposition lawmakers in the lower house, before it moves to the upper house for another debate and voting. If approved by both houses of parliament, it will be sent to President Droupadi Murmu for her assent before becoming law.
Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, a New Delhi-based author and political analyst who has focused on Hindu nationalist politics, described the bill as an “unfortunate development,” referring to the way it was prepared without proper consultations with Indian Muslims.
“I’m deeply disturbed by the manner in which this government is going about enacting the waqf bill in complete disregard of the sentiment of the Muslim community and their representatives,” he told Arab News.
“The only message which this government is repeatedly making — because that is the only thing which is going to continue to keep its electoral support — is that ‘we are tightening the screws on the Muslims; we are forcing them to act as the majority community wants.’”
Hungary must arrest Netanyahu during visit, HRW says
- Israeli leader expected to travel to country today at invitation of PM Viktor Orban
- Netanyahu is subject of an ICC arrest warrant relating to war crimes in Gaza
LONDON: Hungary must deny entry to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or arrest him during his planned visit to the country today, Human Rights Watch has said.
The appeal came a day after Amnesty International urged Hungary to arrest the Israeli leader, the subject of an International Criminal Court warrant.
Netanyahu is traveling to the EU country at the invitation of Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister.
The ICC’s warrant for his arrest, which was issued on Nov. 21 last year, relates to allegations of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in the Gaza Strip, including starving civilians, murder and persecution.
HRW has documented a litany of abuses and war crimes carried out by the Israeli military in Gaza.
Liz Evenson, the organization’s international justice director, said: “Orban’s invitation to Netanyahu is an affront to victims of serious crimes.
“Hungary should comply with its legal obligations as a party to the ICC and arrest Netanyahu if he sets foot in the country.”
The EU state is a member country of the ICC, and therefore obligated to secure the arrest of any suspects on its territory.
The ICC lacks a police force or enforcement protocol, and relies on member states to enact its mandate.
Several EU member states have said they will refuse to enforce the arrest warrant against Netanyahu, in what HRW described as “regrettable” decisions.
These include France, Poland, Italy and Germany.
All ICC members must uphold their obligations to the court’s treaty, the Rome Statute, HRW said, urging the EU’s leadership to call on Hungary to arrest Netanyahu.
When the Israeli leader’s arrest warrant was issued, Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto described the decision as “shameful, absurd and unacceptable.”
The country also announced a “review” of its relations with the ICC following US President Donald Trump’s decision to authorize the use of sanctions against the court’s officials in the wake of the Netanyahu warrant.
Evenson said: “Allowing Netanyahu’s visit in breach of Hungary’s ICC obligations would be Orban’s latest assault on the rule of law, adding to the country’s dismal record on rights.
“All ICC member countries need to make clear they expect Hungary to abide by its obligations to the court, and that they will do the same.”
Indian government tables bill to take over centuries-old waqf management from Muslims
- India has one of the largest numbers of waqf assets in the world, valued at around $14.2bn
- Waqf tradition in India can be traced back to the Delhi Sultanate period in the 13th century
NEW DELHI: The Indian government tabled on Wednesday a bill in parliament aimed at making sweeping changes to the decades-old Waqf Act, which governs vast tracts of properties run and managed by Muslims in the country.
With over 200 million Indians professing Islam, Hindu-majority India has the world’s largest Muslim-minority population.
The country has one of the largest numbers of waqf assets in the world, including over 870,000 properties spanning more than 900,000 hectares, with an estimated value of about $14.2 billion. Domestically, only the military and railways control more land.
In Islamic tradition, a waqf is a charitable or religious donation made by Muslims for the benefit of the community. Properties categorized as waqf, which typically involve mosques, schools, orphanages or hospitals, cannot be sold or used for other purposes.
In India, where the tradition of waqf can be traced back to the Delhi Sultanate period in the early 13th century, such properties are currently managed by about 30 government-established waqf boards, whose members are all Muslims.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, proposes more than 40 changes to the 1995 Waqf Act aimed at shifting the management of waqf properties from the boards to state governments, including the inclusion of non-Muslim members.
“The government is not interfering in any religious practice or institution. There is no provision in this to interfere in the management of any mosque. This is simply an issue of management of a property,” Minister of Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju, who tabled the bill, said during a parliament session on Wednesday.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board, which works to safeguard Islamic law in the country, said the bill could weaken waqf properties and their management.
“I think this bill has been brought with an intention to destroy the waqf board, not to improve it. The new law is very weak and aimed at attacking waqf properties,” board member Malik Mohtasim Khan told Arab News.
“They want to make a waqf law which is free from the influence of Muslims. I feel that their main aim is to make Muslims a second-class citizen.”
Indian Muslims have faced increasing discrimination and challenges in the past decade, accompanied by tensions and riots ignited by majoritarian policies of the Hindu right-wing BJP since it rose to power in 2014.
“They want to weaken Muslims’ rights in India,” Khan said. “The existing government has created such an atmosphere that there is no respect for parliamentary values and judicial values are also getting diluted. Today the Muslim community is being pushed to the margins. This is a lived reality.”
The bill’s fate will be decided with a vote by the ruling alliance and opposition lawmakers in the lower house, before it moves to the upper house for another debate and voting. If approved by both houses of parliament, it will be sent to President Droupadi Murmu for her assent before becoming law.
Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, a New Delhi-based author and political analyst who has focused on Hindu nationalist politics, described the bill as an “unfortunate development,” referring to the way it was prepared without proper consultations with Indian Muslims.
“I’m deeply disturbed by the manner in which this government is going about enacting the waqf bill in complete disregard of the sentiment of the Muslim community and their representatives,” he told Arab News.
“The only message which this government is repeatedly making — because that is the only thing which is going to continue to keep its electoral support — is that ‘we are tightening the screws on the Muslims; we are forcing them to act as the majority community wants.’”
