Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was handed a five-year prison sentence on Thursday after he was found guilty by a Paris court of criminally conspiracy in a trial over illegal Libyan campaign financing.

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty on some counts in a trial related to alleged campaign funds from Libya. The Paris Criminal Court convicted the 70-year-old on Thursday of "criminal conspiracy" but acquitted him of charges of bribery,