Former President Nicolas Sarkozy is standing trial for allegedly having received illegal campaign financing from Libya's ex-dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The case could show the strength of France's anti-corruption efforts.

The corruption trial of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy continues. France 24's Shirli Sitbon is at the courthouse and explains what the trial is about.

The former French president refuted the prosecution's claim that the Libyan leader's visit to Paris in 2007 was a quid pro quo for the alleged 'corruption pact.' He said the Libyan leader's visit to Paris was simply 'the logical follow-up of the liberation of the nurses.

Louis Sarkozy, who spent most of his childhood in the United States, will start writing a column for French far-right news magazine 'Valeurs Actuelles'.

The 1989 bombing of UTA flight 772 killed 170 people of 18 nationalities, including 54 French citizens. In court, the victims' families expressed their pain at how former president Nicolas Sarkozy renewed ties with the late Libyan leader.

The prosecution claims that Thierry Herzog and Francis Szpiner were asked to look for a way of lifting the international arrest warrant for Abdallah al-Senoussi, convicted in 1999 for the bombing of UTA flight 772.

Nicolas Sarkozy was questioned on Monday about his 2005 visit to Libya, which he described in detail to prove that it had been physically impossible for him to enter into a 'pact of corruption' with the Libyan leader.