A court in France has found former President Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of criminal conspiracy in his trial for the alleged illegal financing of his successful 2007 presidential campaign with funds from the government of then-Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The Paris criminal court, however, acquitted the 70-year-old of all other charges, including illegal campaign financing and passive corruption, on Thursday.

The court is expected to sentence Sarkozy later in the day.

The former president, who led France between 2007 and 2012 and retired from active politics in 2017, can appeal the guilty verdict, which would suspend any sentence pending the appeal.

Prosecutors have argued for a seven-year prison sentence.

Sarkozy was accused of making a deal with Gaddafi in 2005, when he was interior minister, to obtain campaign financing in exchange for supporting the then-isolated Libyan government on the international stage.

He had always denied the charges and said the case is politically motivated.