Lawyers for former French president Nicolas Sarkozy called for their client's acquittal in an appeal trial over allegations that his 2007 election campaign sought illegal funding from Libya.
"Nicolas Sarkozy must be acquitted because he is innocent," Tristan Gautier told the Paris court during closing arguments.
Gautier's colleague, Christophe Ingrain, said a conviction could not be made on the basis of a mere hypothesis. Sarkozy, president from 2007 to 2012, had not acted in a way that would justify accusations of involvement in a criminal organization, he said.
The conviction was based not on provable acts, but on presumed intentions, Ingrain said.
In the initial trial, Sarkozy was found guilty of membership of a criminal association and sentenced to five years in prison in a case unique in the recent history of France. He was jailed for a few weeks, despite lodging an appeal.
While the court found no proof that Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign had in fact received money from the regime of former Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi, it did find that both the conservative politician and people close to him had attempted to secure this money.
Sarkozy has always denied the charges. In the appeal, the prosecution has called for a sentence of seven years, accusing Sarkozy of corruption and illegal campaign funding.
