Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has begun a five-year prison sentence at La Sante prison in Paris, marking a stunning downfall for the man who governed France between 2007 and 2012.
The conservative politician was convicted last month for his role in a conspiracy to illegally raise campaign funds from Libya.
Mr Sarkozy is the first former French leader to be jailed since Nazi collaborator Marshal Philippe Petain after the Second World War.
Before his arrival at the prison, he was seen leaving his home hand-in-hand with his wife, Carla Bruni, greeted by a crowd of supporters chanting his name and singing La Marseillaise. Shortly after, he published a message on X, claiming he was a victim of “revenge and hatred.”
“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,” he said.
“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, told BFM TV. He was among relatives and supporters who cheered the former president on his way to jail.
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,” Cauwel told RTL Radio.
Access to TV, landline and private shower
Mr Sarkozy’s conviction capped 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 Mr 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.
“I’m not afraid of prison. I’ll keep my head held high, including at the prison gates,” Mr Sarkozy told La Tribune Dimanche newspaper ahead of his incarceration.
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.
Mr Sarkozy’s isolation unit at La Sante prison in Paris, which in the past has housed leftist militant Carlos the Jackal and Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega, features 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.
Mr 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
Mr Sarkozy’s lawyer Jean-Michel Darrois told Franceinfo radio that Sarkozy 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.
Mr Sarkozy had 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 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 Mr Sarkozy to jail without waiting for the appeal.
President Emmanuel Macron, who had warm relations with Mr Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni, said on Monday he had met Sarkozy ahead of his incarceration. Justice minister Gerald Darmanin, who is close to Sarkozy, told France Inter radio he would go and visit the former president.
