Sarkozy to stand trial over illegal election funding

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy will stand trial over allegations that his 2012 re-election campaign received illegal funding, adding to the woes of France’s centre-right party just months before the country’s presidential election.

Investigating judge Serge Tournaire has ordered Mr Sarkozy and 13 others to stand trial over “illegal campaign financing”, according to a judicial source, after they were placed under formal investigation in December.

Mr Sarkozy, who has denied all wrongdoing, was defeated in the centre-right Republicans primary late last year by his former prime minister, François Fillon, but remains a powerful figure in the party.

The looming trial could prove more bad publicity for France’s political right, coming at a time when Mr Fillon faces his own funding scandal that has prompted calls for him to stand down.

Mr Fillon has been knocked by two weeks of allegations in Le Canard Enchaîné and other French newspapers that his British-born wife Penelope and his children received a combined €880,000 in public money for allegedly fake jobs.

On Monday Mr Fillon apologised for employing his family but insisted their work justified their salaries and vowed to fight on. “It was a mistake. I deeply regret it and apologise to the French people,” he said.