PARIS (AP) — A Paris court is to deliver its verdict Thursday over former French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s alleged illegal financing of his 2007 presidential campaign by the government of then-Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

If convicted, the 70-year-old Sarkozy would be the first former French president found guilty of accepting illegal foreign funds to win office.

Sarkozy, who was elected in 2007 but lost his bid for reelection in 2012, has denied all wrongdoing during a three-month trial earlier this year that also involved 11 co-defendants, including three former ministers.

Despite multiple legal scandals that have clouded his presidential legacy, Sarkozy remains an influential figure in right-wing politics in France and in entertainment circles, by virtue of his marriage to singer

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