Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy vowed to clear his name today after being charged for financing his 2007 election campaign with money from late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi, but said he was "finished" in politics.
"It might take me one, two, 10 years but I'll smash this group (of accusers) and will restore my honour," he said during an emotion-charged prime-time television interview. "I don't plan to give an inch!"
"I am hurt deeply as a person, not for me, for my country," Sarkozy said in his concluding remarks. "You can't drag people into the mud because some killers wanted to do it. I can't let them get away with it."