Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to five years in prison for accepting millions of illegal funds from Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi for election campaigning.

Sarkozy has argued that the charges are politically motivated, but he is accused of using money he received from Gaddafi in 2007 for election campaigning.

Instead, prosecutors say Sarkozy promised to build Gaddafi's reputation in West African countries.

Sarkozy, 70, was president of France from 2007 to 2012.

Judge Nathalie Gavarino said Sarkozy allowed his close aides to contact Libyan officials to request funding for his election campaign.

The court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prove that Sarkozy personally benefited from illegally obtained campaign funds.

Sarkozy was found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison.

This means that they will likely spend time in prison even if they appeal.

The court also ordered him to pay a fine of 100,000 euros in addition to their prison sentence.