Defiant former French president Sarkozy to begin 5-year prison term
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Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy will have access to a TV, landline and a private shower in his cell.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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PARIS - Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy left his Paris home on Oct 21 to head to jail, walking hand in hand with his wife Carla Bruni and cheered on by a crowd of supporters chanting “Nicolas, Nicolas”.
Sarkozy stepped into a car to head to the French capital’s La Sante jail, where he will start a five-year sentence
A court decided to jail the conservative former leader after finding him guilty of conspiring to raise campaign funds from Libya.
Sarkozy will become the first former French leader to be jailed since Nazi collaborator Marshal Philippe Petain after World War II.
On Oct 21, he wrote in a long message on X: “I want to tell (French people), with the unshakable strength that is mine, that it is not a former president of the Republic who is being imprisoned this morning – it is an innocent man.”
Mr Sebastien Cauwel, who heads up the high-profile La Sante prison in Paris where Sarkozy will be jailed, said the former President would be held in isolation.
“He will be able to access the exercise yard, on his own, twice a day, he will have access to an activities room while on his own and he will be alone when inside his prison cell,” Mr Cauwel told RTL Radio.
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.
“I am very proud of him, proud that he is going to prison with his head held high, and absolutely convinced of his innocence,” his brother Guillaume Sarkozy, who was among relatives and supporters who cheered Nicolas Sarkozy on his way to jail, told BFM TV.
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 Sante 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 sq m and, following renovations, now include private showers.
Sarkozy will have access to a television - for a monthly fee of €14 (S$21) - and a landline telephone.
The Count of Monte Cristo on reading list
Sarkozy’s lawyer Jean-Michel Darrois earlier told Franceinfo radio that his client was getting ready for prison by bringing along pullovers and earplugs.
“He has put together a few bags in which he has put some pullovers as prisons can be cold and some earplugs as there could also be a lot of noise,” said Mr Darrois.
Sarkozy also 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 in early 2026.
According to an Oct 1 Elabe poll for BFM TV, 58 per cent of French respondents believe the verdict was impartial, and 61 per cent support the decision to send Sarkozy to jail without waiting for the appeal.
President Emmanuel Macron, who had warm relations with Sarkozy and Ms Bruni, said on Oct 20 he had met Sarkozy ahead of his incarceration. REUTERS
