FORMER French President Nicolas Sarkozy has begun serving a five-year prison sentence at La Santé Prison in Paris after being convicted of criminal conspiracy over an alleged plan for late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi to finance his 2007 presidential campaign.
The development marks the first time a post-war French leader and a former head of a European Union state has been sent to prison.
Sarkozy, who served as France’s president from 2007 to 2012, was convicted last month by a Paris court. He was found guilty of conspiring to illegally obtain campaign funds from Gaddafi’s regime to secure his 2007 election victory. The 70-year-old politician maintains his innocence and has filed an appeal against the judgment.
AFP reporters observed Sarkozy leave his Paris home early Tuesday morning, accompanied by his wife, singer Carla Bruni, as supporters gathered outside holding his portraits and chanting “Free Nicolas.” He was later driven under police escort to the La Santé Prison. From inside the facility, inmates were heard shouting “Welcome, Sarkozy!” as he was processed into custody.
In a statement posted on his social media before entering the prison, Sarkozy said, “It is not a former president of the republic being jailed this morning, but an innocent man. I have no doubt the truth will prevail.”
Sarkozy’s lawyer, Christophe Ingrain, confirmed that a motion for his client’s release had been filed immediately after his incarceration. The Paris appeals court is expected to decide within two months whether to grant temporary freedom pending his appeal trial. However, Ingrain noted that the former president was likely to remain behind bars for at least three weeks.
According to prison officials, Sarkozy will be held in solitary confinement for his safety in a nine-square-metre cell with a private shower and toilet. He will have limited communication, restricted to a security-controlled phone line and family visits twice a week.
He told Le Figaro that he had packed family photos, a biography of Jesus, and Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo, noting that he planned to write a book while in detention.
During his trial, prosecutors accused Sarkozy of entering into what they described as a “Faustian pact” with one of the world’s most notorious dictators. They alleged that in exchange for millions of euros in illegal campaign funds, Sarkozy’s team had promised to help Gaddafi rehabilitate Libya’s image internationally after years of pariah status linked to terrorist bombings in the 1980s.
The court ruled that while prosecutors could not prove Sarkozy directly received or used the Libyan funds, there was sufficient evidence to convict him of criminal conspiracy. He was, however, acquitted of charges of passive corruption, embezzlement of Libyan public funds, and illegal campaign financing.
The verdict followed a series of legal troubles for the former president. In 2021, a French court found him guilty of corruption and influence peddling for attempting to bribe a senior magistrate, Gilbert Azibert, in exchange for confidential information about another investigation into illegal campaign financing from L’Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt.
Sarkozy was then handed a one-year prison sentence and a two-year suspended term, which he served under house arrest with an electronic ankle tag.
The 2025 conviction stems from years of investigation into allegations that Gaddafi’s regime secretly funnelled millions into Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign. French investigators believe the agreement was struck in 2005 and that intermediaries facilitated illegal transfers to his associates.
Judge Nathalie Gavarino, who presided over the case, described the evidence as of “exceptional gravity” and warned that Sarkozy’s actions undermined public trust in democratic institutions.
Sarkozy’s imprisonment has sparked mixed reactions across France. A recent Elabe poll shows that six out of ten citizens believe the sentence is fair. However, the former leader still commands loyalty among right-wing supporters, with many describing his conviction as politically motivated.
President Emmanuel Macron defended hosting Sarkozy at the Élysée Palace shortly before his imprisonment, saying it was “normal, on a human level,” to receive one of his predecessors. But opposition figures, including Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure, criticised the visit, saying it could be perceived as undue influence on the judiciary.
Sarkozy is the first French leader to be jailed since Philippe Pétain, the head of France’s collaborationist regime during World War II.
As Sarkozy begins his sentence, his appeal remains pending, and his legal team insists he will “fight to clear his name.”
A reporter with the ICIR
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