Jacques Monsieur, a notorious arms trafficker sentenced last year to four years in prison by a court in Belgium but since then a fugitive, has been arrested in a small village in Portugal, the federal police confirmed, after a report by VTM News.

Monsieur has a long history of dubious and downright illegal arms trades, and is known to law enforcement authorities the world over. In June 2017 he was sentenced to three years and fined 300,000 euros for having delivered automatic weapons, ammunition, tanks helicopters planes and other military equipment to countries at war, including Libya, Chad, Pakistan and Iran, in breach of international sanctions.

His history, according to VTM, dates back to the 1980s, when he supplied arms to Iran in the long war with Iraq. Since then he has had convictions in the United States, in connection with the notorious Iran-Contra affair, and in France. According to VTM, there has not been an armed conflict in the last 35 years in which he was not involved as a trafficker of weapons.

He appealed the conviction, and the Court of Appeal in Brussels last year responded by increasing his sentence to four years, and bumping his fine up to 1.2 million euros.

He took flight, and proved untraceable for a time. He is known to own a farm in Tarascon in France, where he owns a number of horses. The place was searched and placed under surveillance, but there was no sign of Monsieur.

Then last month, nine of his horses were transported to Portugal, and the trace was followed by the Fugitive Action Search Team (FAST) of the federal police, who finally tracked Monsieur down to a discreet property with stables.

He will appear before a court in Portugal today, where Belgium will request his extradition to allow him to serve his sentence. </s> Belgian authorities are seeking the extradition of a convicted arms trafficker who was arrested in Portugal this week after a year-long run from justice.

Federal police said Friday that they finally picked up Jacques Monsieur's trail when they monitored the transport of nine horses to an estate in Evora in eastern Portugal, where the equine enthusiast was finally caught.

Police said in a statement that "the fugitive had a secret hideaway in a big mansion next to the stables." Police said Monsieur had been convicted and sentenced to four years in prison last year for illegal arms trafficking to several nations including Libya.

In 2010, he had already been sentenced to two years imprisonment in the United States on arms trafficking charges. </s> BRUSSELS - Belgian authorities are seeking the extradition of a convicted arms trafficker who was arrested in Portugal this week after a year-long run from justice.

Federal police said Friday that they finally picked up Jacques Monsieur’s trail when they monitored the transport of nine horses to an estate in Evora in eastern Portugal, where the equine enthusiast was finally caught.

Police said in a statement that “the fugitive had a secret hideaway in a big mansion next to the stables.” Police said Monsieur had been convicted and sentenced to four years in prison last year for illegal arms trafficking to several nations including Libya.

In 2010, he had already been sentenced to two years imprisonment in the United States on arms trafficking charges.

Get more of the Star in your inbox Never miss the latest news from the Star. Sign up for our newsletters to get today's top stories, your favourite columnists and lots more in your inbox Sign Up Now </s> Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday evening was charged with receiving illicit financing from Libya's then-government for his successful 2007 election campaign.

After the former head of state was questioned in police custody over two days, a three-judge panel charged Sarkozy with bribe-taking, illegal campaign financing and receiving Libyan public funds, local media reported.

The 63-year-old Sarkozy, France's center-right president from 2007 to 2012, is already facing illicit campaign financing charges stemming from his unsuccessful bid for re-election in 2012.

The former president, who has been released from custody, was questioned on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Judicial Police's headquarters in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris, over allegations he accepted illicit campaign donations from late Libyan strongman Muammar Gadaffi, who was deposed and killed in a Western-led intervention in 2011.

But Jean-Yves Dupeux, attorney for Brice Hortefeux - a former interior minister under Sarkozy who spent 15 hours Tuesday being grilled by the same anti-corruption investigators - told the BFMTV channel that the police fired at least 200 questions at his client, who categorically denied that Sarkozy had benefited from Libyan campaign financing.

Sarkozy himself has vehemently denied the allegations, including ones leveled by Ziad Takieddine, a French-Lebanese businessman and arms broker.

In November 2016, Takieddine told French news Web site Mediapart that he personally transported 5 million euros ($6 million) in cash from Tripoli to Paris and hand-delivered those funds to Sarkozy, the interior minister at the time, and to Claude Gueant.

Gueant, who was the director of Sarkozy's 2007 campaign, also is facing charges in the Libyan funding case.

Other evidence against Sarkozy includes a document published in April 2012 by Mediapart and allegedly drafted in December 2006 by Moussa Koussa, the then-head of Libya's intelligence service.

That document, which the former French president says is a forgery, pledged to provide 50 million euros for Sarkozy's 2007 campaign.

France launched an investigation into the allegations the following year. </s> A Belgian court will give its verdict Monday on Salah Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect in the Paris Islamist attacks, over a bloody 2016 shootout with police in Brussels that led to his capture.

Prosecutors asked at the trial in February for Abdeslam and his co-defendant Sofiane Ayari to be jailed for up to 20 years if found guilty on charges of terrorist-related attempted murder and possession of banned weapons.

Neither Abdeslam, who is being held in jail in France pending a separate trial over the 2015 Paris attacks in which 130 people died, nor Ayari is expected to be in court in Brussels for the verdict, a court spokesman told AFP.

Belgian security forces will mount a major operation around the imposing Palace of Justice building in Brussels for the verdict, which judges are due to start reading out at 0645 GMT.

Abdeslam, 28, a Belgian-born French national, was transported to the court from France for the first day of the trial amid tight security including a helicopter escort, while Tunisian national Ayari, 24, is in jail in Belgium.

On the first day of the trial, Abdeslam proclaimed that he would only put his “trust in Allah” and accused the court of being biased against Muslims.

He then refused to attend the rest of the proceedings.

Three police officers were wounded in the gun battle after police acting on a tip-off over the Paris attacks raided a flat in the Forest area of Brussels on March 15, 2016.

Abdeslam was arrested three days later in the largely immigrant Molenbeek area of the Belgian capital, near his family home.

On March 22 suicide bombers from a cell linked to the Paris attacks killed 32 people and wounded hundreds more at Brussels airport and a metro station in the Belgian capital.

Investigators say Abedeslam’s arrest spurred the Brussels bombers to bring forward the attacks, which had originally been planned for a later date, as they feared they could be captured.

Prosecutors have said that DNA links Abdeslam to the apartment in the Forest district of Brussels where the shooting took place, but not to the weapons themselves that were used.

After Abdeslam refused to return to court for the trial in February, his lawyer Sven Mary sought the case’s dismissal on a technicality over how the judges were named to investigate the gun battle, and said media leaks had denied him a fair trial.

But lawyers for police wounded in the gun battle accused Abdeslam of “mocking” the trial.

One of the injured police officers was still suffering from after-effects including brain lesions, epileptic fits and vision and balance problems.

An organisation representing victims of the Brussels attacks and their families has asked for symbolic damages of one euro from the trial.

The Belgian trial is a prelude to a bigger one that Abdeslam will face in France at a later date over the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks, which were claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.

Abdeslam’s brother Brahim was one of the suicide bombers. </s> Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been placed in custody as part of a probe into allegations he received millions of euros in illegal financing from the regime of late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, a judicial source said.

Mr Sarkozy was quizzed by police at the Nanterre police station, west of Paris, a person with direct knowledge of the case told the Associated Press.

An investigation has been under way since 2013 into the case, involving funding for his winning 2007 presidential campaign.

Mr Sarkozy and his former chief of staff have denied wrongdoing in the case.

The case gained traction when French-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine claimed to online investigative site Mediapart that he delivered suitcases from Libya containing five million euros in cash to Mr Sarkozy and his former chief of staff Claude Gueant.

Investigators are examining claims that Gaddafi’s regime secretly gave Mr Sarkozy 50 million euros overall for the 2007 campaign.

Such a sum would be more than double the legal campaign funding limit at the time of 21 million euros.

In addition, the alleged payments would violate French rules against foreign financing and declaring the source of campaign funds.

In the Mediapart interview published in November 2016, Mr Takieddine claimed he was given five million euros in Tripoli by Gaddafi’s intelligence chief on trips in late 2006 and 2007 and that he gave the money in suitcases full of cash to Mr Sarkozy and Mr Gueant on three occasions.

He claimed the handovers took place in the interior ministry, while Mr Sarkozy was interior minister.

Mr Takieddine has for years been embroiled in his own problems with French justice, centred mainly on allegations he provided illegal funds to the campaign of conservative politician Edouard Balladur for his 1995 presidential election campaign – via commissions from the sale of French submarines to Pakistan.

Soon after becoming the French president, Mr Sarkozy invited the Libyan leader to France for a state visit and welcomed him with high honours.

But Mr Sarkozy then put France in the forefront of Nato-led air strikes against Gaddafi’s troops that helped rebel fighters topple his regime in 2011. </s> Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy told magistrates that accusations of illicit Libyan funding for his 2007 election campaign were a web of lies that had made his life “hell” and lost him a re-election bid in 2012, Le Figaro newspaper said. The 63-year-old, who held power from 2007 to 2012, was told by investigators after two days of questioning in police custody on Wednesday he was formally suspected of passive corruption, an offense that carries a sentence of up to 10 years in jail.

At issue is a murky affair of Libyan spies, arms dealers and allegations that late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi provided Sarkozy’s 2007 election campaign with millions of euros shipped to Paris in suitcases – allegations Sarkozy has always denied.

The newspaper published a lengthy account of what it said was a verbatim declaration by Sarkozy.

“This calumny has made my life a living hell since March 11, 2011,” he states, according to the newspaper.

“I’ve paid a heavy price for this affair. Put it this way: I lost the presidential election of 2012 by 1.5 percentage points. The controversy initiated by Gaddafi and his henchmen cost me that 1.5 percent”.

Sarkozy, who came under fire for giving Gaddafi a red-carpet reception in Paris in late 2007, said his problems began in March 2011 after he hosted Libyan rebels and went on to become one of the main advocates of a NATO-led campaign that resulted in the dictator’s overthrow and killing by rebels in 2011.

He also denounced what he described as lies from one of his main accusers, a Franco-Lebanese businessman who has described himself among other things as a “middleman in the shadows” on liaison between Paris and Libyan secret service chiefs.

The accusations prompted the opening of a judicial inquiry in 2013 which snowballed this week when Sarkozy was called in for interrogation and, on Wednesday evening, formally placed under investigation as a suspect in the affair.

In France, being “placed under investigation” is a step that judicial investigators can take if they have serious grounds for suspecting an offense. It often but not always leads to trial.

Sarkozy, who was called “president bling bling” by many due to his flashy style, has been dogged for years by accusations of wrongdoing. He is challenging an order to stand trial on charges of illicit spending overruns during his failed 2012 campaign.

One of the many factors that played in 40-year-old Emmanuel Macron’s presidential election win in May 2017 was a promise of a clean break with traditional French politics, often marred by accusations of corruption.

Sarkozy’s immediate predecessor, Jacques Chirac, was tried and convicted in 2011 of misusing public funds to keep political friends in phantom jobs – making him the first French head of state to be convicted of a crime since Nazi collaborator Marshall Philippe Petain in 1945. </s> Le trafiquant d’armes belge Jacques Monsieur a été arrêté ce mercredi soir à Herdade do Jambujal, Evora au Portugal, a indiqué la police fédérale, confirmant une information de VTM. Il avait été condamné l’année dernière à une peine de prison de 4 ans et une amende de 1,2 million d’euros pour avoir livré des armes illégalement à la Libye, le Tchad, le Pakistan et l’Iran.

Condamné en 2017

Jacques Monsieur est l’un des plus grands trafiquants d’armes au monde. En 2017, il est reconnu coupable d’avoir livré illégalement entre 2006 et 2009 des centaines d’armes automatiques, munitions, tanks, hélicoptères, avions et autres matériels militaires à des pays en guerre. Il est condamné à trois ans de prison et une amende de 300.000 euros.

Jacques Monsieur a fait appel de la décision. En octobre dernier, il est finalement condamné à une peine plus lourde : 4 ans de prison et une amende de 1,2 million d’euros. Il est notamment condamné pour appartenance à un gang criminel, contrairement au premier jugement.

Une vraie traque

Suite à ce jugement, il s’est enfui et vivait caché à Evora au Portugal, où il a été arrêté par une équipe spéciale FAST à la demande du tribunal belge. Un mandat d’arrêt international avait été délivré. Sa trace avait été trouvée à Tarascon en France, où il a acheté une maison de campagne au mois de mars. Il possédait également un nombre conséquent de chevaux. Le mois dernier, neuf bêtes ont été emmenées au Portugal par un éleveur français. Le prix du transport (2.500 euros) n’a jamais été réglé mais cette piste a été très utile aux enquêteurs du FAST puisqu’elle les a conduits à Evora.

C’est la collaboration intense entre les forces de l’ordre belges, françaises et portugaises qui a permis l’arrestation de Jacques Monsieur, dans une discrète maison de campagne avec écurie. Il comparaîtra ce vendredi devant un tribunal portugais. La Belgique réclame son extradition pour qu’il puisse purger sa peine.

Bien connu de la justice

Originaire du Brabant flamand, l’homme était connu internationalement. Il y a une dizaine d’années, il avait été condamné pour des faits similaires aux États-Unis et en France. Selon VTM, il n’y a pas eu un conflit armé au cours de ces 35 dernières années dans lequel Jacques Monsieur n’a pas été impliqué. Dans les années 80 déjà, il avait fourni à l’Iran des armes pendant la guerre contre l’Irak. </s> Paris: Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been charged with receiving illicit financing from the regime of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi for his 2007 election campaign.

After the former head of state was questioned in police custody over two days, a three-judge panel on Wednesday evening charged Sarkozy with bribe-taking, illegal campaign financing and receiving Libyan public funds, reports Efe news. The 63-year-old Sarkozy, France’s centre-right president from 2007 to 2012, is already facing illicit campaign financing charges stemming from his unsuccessful bid for re-election in 2012.

The former President, who has been released from custody, was questioned on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Judicial Police’s headquarters in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris, over allegations he accepted illicit campaign donations from Gadafi, who was deposed and killed in a Western-led intervention in 2011. It remains unknown what Sarkozy told investigators.

But Jean-Yves Dupeux, attorney for Brice Hortefeux – a former interior minister under Sarkozy who spent 15 hours on Tuesday being grilled by the same anti-corruption investigators – told the BFMTV channel that the police fired at least 200 questions at his client, who categorically denied that Sarkozy had benefited from Libyan campaign financing. Sarkozy himself has vehemently denied the allegations, including ones levelled by Ziad Takieddine, a French-Lebanese businessman and arms broker.

In November 2016, Takieddine told French news website Mediapart that he personally transported 5 million euros ($6 million) in cash from Tripoli to Paris and hand-delivered those funds to Sarkozy, the interior minister at the time, and to Claude Gueant. Gueant, who was the director of Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign, also is facing charges in the Libyan funding case.

Other evidence against Sarkozy includes a document published in April 2012 by Mediapart and allegedly drafted in December 2006 by Moussa Koussa, the former head of Libya’s intelligence service. That document, which the former French president says is a forgery, pledged to provide 50 million euros for Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign. France launched an investigation into the allegations the following year.
Arms trader Jacques Monsieur is to defend himself again at a Brussels court against accusations of arms trafficking to Libya, Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Pakistan and Iran between 2006 and 2009.