Nicolas Sarkozy's son blasts critics on Twitter: "They want to sabotage my father's comeback while France is in the s**t"

Louis Sarkozy's profile picture on Twitter; his father and former French president Nicolas Sarkozy

Louis Sarkozy, the youngest son of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, has claimed the corruption investigation against his father is part of a plan to sabotage his political comeback and keep France "in the sh*t".

In a series of tweets, the 17-year old expressed his outrage and defended his father, who was arrested for alleged influence peddling on Tuesday, suggesting the investigation is part of a "relentless" plan "to ensure that he doesn't return to politics".

Sarko Junior, as he likes to call himself, then re-tweeted dozens of messages from supporters and also hinted that his father is the only person who can save France, adding: "Look at the state of our country, we're in the sh**t".

Mr Sarkozy has been accused of multiple illegal dealings, mostly linked to the financing of his 2007 and 2012 election campaigns, and has so far escaped conviction.

But this is the most serious case against him as it concerns the possible perversion of justice and threatens to destroy his political aspirations ahead of the ahead of the next presidential elections in 2017.

The former President and his lawyer are suspected of illegally cultivating a network of informants within France’s top court, the Cour de Cassation, and the police.

Mr Sarkozy is also accused of promising one of the magistrates, Gilbert Azibert, a prestigious job in Monaco in return for information that could help his defence in a case in which he was accused of abuse of frailty by allegedly soliciting money from L’Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, France's richest woman. The preliminary criminal charges against Mr Sarkozy in that case were dropped by a Bordeaux court last October.

The alleged influence-peddling and establishment of a network of informants came to light during phone-tapping by police who were investigating allegations that Mr Sarkozy sought money from the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, for his 2007 election campaign, which the former President denies.