Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy went on trial in Paris on Monday on charges that his 2007 campaign received illegal funding from the Libyan government of Colonel Muammar el Gaddafi.
The trial, which is scheduled to last three months, is far from the first for Mr. Sarkozy, 69, a conservative politician who led France from 2007 to 2012 but represents one of the most serious legal threats to French politics has left office.
Just last month, Mr. Sarkozy exhausted his final appeal in a separate corruption and influence-peddling case, making him the first former French president to be sentenced to real detention, although he will serve his house arrest with an electronic bracelet.
But of all the legal cases against Mr. Sarkozy, Libya is one of the most extensive, complex and explosive. It includes accusations that his campaign illegally accepted huge sums of money from Colonel Gaddafi, the former Libyan strongman who was killed by opposition fighters in 2011.
Mr. Sarkozy, who has denied wrongdoing, could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of nearly $400,000.
