India, Sept. 25 -- Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday was sentenced to five years in prison after a Paris court found him guilty of conspiring criminally with Libya over illegal election campaign funding.

The court spared the 70-year-old the humiliation of being marched out of the courtroom by police officers by saying that the date of his incarceration will be decided later.

However, in a major surprise, the judge said that Sarkozy will be imprisoned even if he appeals.

Sarkozy was found guilty on a key charge of acquiring illegal financing from the then-Libyan government of leader Muammar Gaddafi for his 2007 presidential campaign.

He reportedly took money from Libya in a criminal association plot from 2005 to 2007 ...