After a decade-long investigation, magistrates in Paris ordered Mr. Sarkozy to be tried on charges of passive corruption, illegal campaign financing, criminal conspiracy and concealing the misappropriation of public funds, according to Jean-François Bohnert, France’s top financial prosecutor. If convicted, Mr. Sarkozy could face up to 10 years in prison. A three-month trial is scheduled for early 2025, Mr. Bohnert said in a statement, although that date could be delayed by appeals from Mr. Sarkozy, who has strenuously denied the accusations, or by other defendants in the case. Mr. Sarkozy, 68, a conservative politician who was president from 2007 to 2012, remains an influential figure in French politics. But he has faced an array of legal troubles, and the allegations that his campaign illegally accepted money from Colonel Qaddafi, the former Libyan strongman assassinated in 2011, have been the most explosive.
