Nicolas Sarkozy is planning to challenge an order that bans him from contacting his main accusers and allies or visiting countries such as Libya amid a judicial inquiry into allegations that Muammar Gaddafi could have financed his 2007 election campaign.
The ex-president, who was in office from 2007 to 2012, and is now facing allegations of passive corruption pledged to "vanquish" his accusers, including those whom he described as "The Gaddafi Gang" and "a gang of assassins" during a prime-time TV show overnight.
In turn, Sarkozy's lawyer, Thierry Herzog, said in a public statement, that he would file a legal appeal against the ban.
"I will prove (ex-) President Sarkozy innocent. I will provide proof he is innocent and then we will know who the evildoers are, who the thugs are, who the assassins are, who the robbers are," he told RTL on Friday.
On Thursday, French BFMTV broadcaster reported that Nicolas Sarkozy had been banned from visiting Libya due to the judicial supervision levied against him within the framework of the ongoing investigation into the financing of his 2007 presidential campaign.
READ MORE: Sarkozy Under Judicial Supervision, Banned From Visiting Libya — Reports
BFMTV reported further that Sarkozy was banned from meeting other defendants in the case, including former Chief of Staff Claude Gueant.
The former French president, who was detained in Nantre on Tuesday and then put under judicial supervision has been charged with "passive bribery, illegal election campaign financing and the concealment of Libyan public funds."
According to the prosecution, Sarkozy reportedly took about 50 million euros from the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi ahead of the 2007 presidential elections. However, Nicolas Sarkozy denied the charges brought against him. Most recently, the former French president denounced the lack of "physical evidence" in his case, as cited by local media.
In 2011 Gaddafi's son publicly claimed the French president should admit he took money from the Libyan government. A criminal case was opened in 2012, but the investigation had been suspended until 2017, when the judge brought preliminary charges against the former president, stating that prosecutors had enough evidence to start criminal proceedings.
