- Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced to five years in prison for criminal conspiracy involving alleged Libyan campaign funds.
- He will report to La Santé prison in Paris, where he will be held in solitary confinement for safety reasons.
- Sarkozy maintains his innocence, insisting he never accepted Gaddafi-linked funds, and has already appealed the conviction.
- The case marks another major blow for the former president, who had faced multiple corruption trials in recent years.
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is set to report to La Santé prison in southern Paris on Tuesday to begin serving a five-year prison sentence for criminal conspiracy linked to alleged campaign funding from Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.
Sarkozy, who governed France between 2007 and 2012, was convicted last month of conspiring to obtain illegal funds from the late Libyan dictator to finance his 2007 presidential campaign. The ruling makes him the first postwar French leader and the first former head of an EU member state to serve actual prison time.
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“I’m not afraid of prison. I’ll keep my head held high, even at the gates,” Sarkozy told La Tribune de Dimanche. The 70-year-old said he had packed a few personal items, including family photos and books like The Count of Monte Cristo, as he prepares for his sentence.
Prison officials confirmed that Sarkozy will be kept in solitary confinement for his protection, in a 9-square-meter cell equipped with a small television but no mobile phone. He will be allowed daily walks for one hour in an enclosed courtyard, monitored by three guards, and receive up to two family visits per week.
During the trial, prosecutors accused Sarkozy of entering a “Faustian pact of corruption” with Gaddafi to secure campaign donations. Lead judge Nathalie Gavarino described the offense as “exceptionally grave” and damaging to public trust.
Although Sarkozy was acquitted of separate charges of corruption, misuse of Libyan funds, and illegal campaign financing, the court found enough evidence to convict him of criminal conspiracy.
His legal team has already filed an appeal, which is expected to be heard within six months. However, the appeal process does not suspend his current sentence, meaning he must begin serving time while the case continues. Sarkozy’s lawyers are also preparing a request for release under judicial supervision or house arrest with an electronic tag, a decision that will take up to two months.
The former president’s son, Louis Sarkozy, has urged supporters to gather near the family’s Paris residence to show solidarity as his father heads to prison.
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This is not Sarkozy’s first encounter with the law. He was previously convicted of influence peddling and corruption in another case, where he served part of a one-year sentence with an electronic tag. He has also been stripped of France’s highest honor, the Legion of Honour, following his multiple convictions.
In a defiant tone, Sarkozy told Le Figaro, “My life is a novel, and this ordeal is part of it. They wanted to make me disappear, but this will make me reborn.”
