Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has gone on trial in Paris, accused of taking millions of euros of illicit funds from the late Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi to finance his 2007 election campaign.

If convicted, Nicolas Sarkozy could face up to 10 years in prison for a ‘corruption pact’ with the late Libyan leader.

Nicolas Sarkozy is standing trial on charges of sealing a “pact of corruption” with Muammar Gaddafi in which the French ex-president received tens of millions of euros from the late Libyan dictator.