Nicolas Sarkozy has become the first French ex-president to go to jail, as he starts a five-year sentence for conspiring to fund his election campaign with money from late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Not since World War Two Nazi collaborationist leader Philippe Pétain was jailed for treason in 1945 has any French ex-leader gone behind bars.
Sarkozy, who was president from 2007-2012, has appealed against his jail term at La Santé prison, where he will occupy a small cell in the jail’s isolation wing.
More than 100 people applauded and shouted “Nicolas!” as he left his villa in the exclusive 16th district of Paris, holding his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy by the hand.
His son Louis, 28, had appealed to supporters for a show of support, while another son, Pierre, called for a message of love – “nothing else, please”.
Nicolas Sarkozy, 70, was driven through the entrance of the notoriously overcrowded 19th-Century prison in the Montparnasse district south of the River Seine at 09:40 (07:40 GMT), while dozens of police officers cordoned off most of the surrounding streets.
He continues to protest his innocence in the highly controversial Libyan money affair and posted a message on X as he was driven to the jail, saying “I have no doubt. Truth will prevail. But how crushing the price will have been”.
“With unwavering strength I tell [the French people] it is not a former president they are locking up this morning – it is an innocent man,” he wrote. “Do not feel sorry for me because my wife and my children are by my side… but this morning I feel deep sorrow for a France humiliated by a will for revenge.”
Moments after Sarkozy entered jail, his lawyer Christophe Ingrain said a request for his release bad been filed. Nothing justifies his imprisonment, said Ingrain: “He’ll be inside for at least three weeks or a month.”
Sarkozy has said he wants no special treatment at La Santé prison, although he has been put in the isolation section for his own safety as other inmates are infamous drugs dealers or have been convicted for terror offences.
ACCESS TO TV, LANDLINE AND PRIVATE SHOWER
The conviction caps years of legal battles over allegations that his 2007 campaign took millions in cash from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was later overthrown and killed during the Arab Spring uprisings.
While Sarkozy was found guilty of conspiring with close aides to orchestrate the scheme, he was acquitted of personally receiving or using the funds.
He has consistently denied wrongdoing and called the case politically motivated, saying judges were seeking to humiliate him. He has appealed, but the nature of his sentence means he must go to jail as his appeal process plays out.
The former president has already been convicted in a separate corruption case, in which he was found guilty of trying to obtain confidential information from a judge in return for career favours, serving that sentence by wearing an electronic tag around the ankle.
At La Santé prison in Paris, which in the past has housed leftist militant Carlos the Jackal and Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega, Sarkozy will likely be held in the isolation unit, where inmates are housed in single cells and kept apart during outdoor activities for security reasons.
Conditions are similar to the rest of the prison: cells measure 9 to 12 square meters (100 to 130 square feet) and, following renovations, now include private showers.
Sarkozy will have access to a television – for a monthly fee of 14 euros ($16) – and a landline telephone.
“THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO” ON READING LIST
Sarkozy told Le Figaro he would take three books for his first week behind bars, including Alexandre Dumas’ “The Count of Monte Cristo” – the story of a man unjustly imprisoned who plots his revenge against those who betrayed him.
The decision to jail a former president has sparked outrage among Sarkozy’s political allies and the far right.
However, the ruling reflects a shift in France’s approach to white-collar crime, following reforms introduced under a previous Socialist government. In the 1990s and 2000s, many convicted politicians avoided prison altogether.
To counter perceptions of impunity, French judges are increasingly issuing “provisional execution” orders – requiring sentences to begin immediately, even as appeals are pending – legal experts and politicians told Reuters.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been banned from running for office under the same “provisional execution” provision, pending an appeal early next year.
According to an October 1 Elabe poll for BFM TV, 58% of French respondents believe the verdict was impartial, and 61% support the decision to send Sarkozy to jail without waiting for the appeal.
President Emmanuel Macron, who had warm relations with Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni, said on Monday he had met Sarkozy ahead of his incarceration.
