Ex-French president Sarkozy begins five-year prison sentence for conspiracy

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has arrived at a prison in Paris to begin serving a five-year sentence for a criminal conspiracy to finance his 2007 election campaign with funds from Libya.

He is the first ex-leader of modern France to be imprisoned.

Sarkozy, hand-in-hand with his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, left home before getting into a car and travelling to the La Sante prison.

On his way to jail, Sarkozy said in a statement released on social media that “an innocent man” is being locked up.

He was convicted last month for criminal conspiracy in a scheme to fund his 2007 election campaign with funds from Libya.

Sarkozy contests both the conviction and a judge’s unusual decision to jail him pending an appeal. His journey from the presidential Elysee Palace to the notorious La Sante prison in Paris has captivated France.

Minutes before entering prison, Sarkozy and his wife walked slowly to join his children and grandchildren outside his home. He waved at a crowd of supporters gathered in the high-end Paris neighbourhood where he lives, then got into his car.

Hundreds of supporters applauded and chanted “Nicolas, Nicolas” and sang the French anthem. Two French flags were hung on a nearby fence, with the inscriptions, “Courage Nicolas, return soon” and “true France with Nicolas.”

Sarkozy’s sons and daughter — Jean, Pierre, Louis and Giulia — and his grandchildren showed up at the gathering.

Parisian resident Michelle Perie, 67, said she came in support “because there is anger, injustice”.

“He’s not like any other defendants, he’s someone who holds state secrets, he’s someone who has always done his job with his head held high. We don’t understand,” she said.

Embattled centrist President Emmanuel Macron hosted the conservative Sarkozy at the presidential palace last week.

“I have always been very clear in my public statements about the independence of the judiciary in my role, but it was normal on a human level to receive one of my predecessors in this context,” Mr Macron said on Monday.

Sarkozy’s lawyers said the former president will be held in solitary confinement, where he will be kept away from all other prisoners for security reasons.

Sarkozy’s lawyer Christophe Ingrain said on BFM TV that incarceration “strengthens his determination, it strengthens his rage to prove that he is innocent”.

Mr Ingrain said Sarkozy is planning to write a book about his prison experience.

Jean-Michel Darrois, another of Sarkozy’s lawyers, said on Tuesday that the former president got himself “mentally prepared” to be held in solitary confinement.

“First, he packed a bag with a few sweaters because it’s cold in prison, and earplugs because it’s very noisy,” Mr Darrois said on France Info news broadcaster. “Isolation like what he’s going to go through is painful, but he got himself prepared.”

“I’m not afraid of prison. I’ll hold my head high, including in front of the doors of La Sante,” Sarkozy told La Tribune Dimanche newspaper. “I’ll fight till the end.”

The paper said Sarkozy has his prison bag ready with clothes and the 10 family photos he is allowed to bring.

Sarkozy also told Le Figaro newspaper that he would bring three books — the maximum allowed — including Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo, in which the hero escapes from an island prison before seeking revenge.

The Paris judge ruled that Sarkozy would start to serve prison time without waiting for his appeal to be heard, due to “the seriousness of the disruption to public order caused by the offence”.

Under the ruling, the 70-year-old Sarkozy will only be able to file a request for release to the appeals court once he is behind bars, and judges will then have up to two months to process it.

Sarkozy’s lawyers said a request for release will be filed very quickly.