Former French president Sarkozy enters prison proclaiming his innocence

On Tuesday, Nicolas Sarkozy became on Tuesday the first former French head of state to enter prison since the end of Second World War for maneuvering to illegally finance his 2007 election campaign with Libyan money.

The conservative president from 2007 to 2012 arrived shortly before 10:00 a.m. local time at La Santé prison in Paris to begin a five-year sentence for illicit association, imposed by a court in September.

"This morning they lock up an innocent man"

“This morning they locked up an innocent man,” Nicolas Sarkozy posted minutes earlier on X, denouncing a “judicial scandal” and a “viacrucis.” “Truth will prevail,” he added, “but how crushing the price will have been.”

His conviction was accompanied by controversy, as the husband of singer Carla Bruni also questioned why the court ordered his imprisonment before the outcome of his appeal. The appeal trial is scheduled to take place in the coming months.

Dozens of people accompanied the former president to the prison entrance

To shouts of “Nicolas! Nicolas!”, dozens of people gathered to show their support at the invitation of his family, as the former president left his home in an exclusive neighborhood in western Paris en route to the city’s only prison, followed by cameras and photographers, AFP reported.

With tears in his eyes, François, a 66-year-old protester, denounced a “political trial.” “We’re in the Soviet Union!” another protester shouted, as two French flags flew on a nearby security fence.

A biography of Jesus and 'The Count of Monte Cristo,' Sarkozy's company in prison

The French right-wing figurehead told Le Figaro on Sunday that he would enter prison “with his head held high,” carrying a biography of Jesus and The Count of Monte Cristo, the most famous wrongfully convicted character in French literature.

To avoid contact with other detainees and potential photographs, Sarkozy will likely occupy one of the 15 nine-square-meter cells in the isolation area of La Santé, according to prison officials familiar with the facility. His arrival caused a stir among inmates, several of whom shouted from their cells: “Oh, welcome, Sarkozy!” and “There’s Sarkozy!”

Born on January 28, 1955, Sarkozy will follow in the footsteps of other notable prisoners who have passed through La Santé, such as Venezuelan Carlos “El Chacal,” convicted of assassination attempts in the 1970s and 1980s, and Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega.

Parole requested

His lawyers have already announced that they have requested his parole, as the law allows for prisoners who have served at least 70% of their sentence. The justice system will have two months to make a decision.

“Sarko,” as he is known in France, will be the first former French head of state to be jailed since Philippe Pétain, who was imprisoned at the end of World War II for collaborating with Nazi Germany. Although other European heads of state have faced imprisonment, Sarkozy will be the first from a country that is already a member of the European Union.

This imprisonment contrasts with the tough-on-crime image that Sarkozy cultivated as Minister of the Interior between 2005 and 2007, a position that helped catapult him to the presidency.

Convicted of allowing his close associates to obtain funding from Qaddafi

Specifically, he was convicted of allowing close associates to approach Muammar Qaddafi’s Libya, which had collapsed after Qaddafi’s death in 2011, to obtain funds for the illegal financing of his 2007 campaign that brought him to power.

Although the trial did not establish that the money was actually used, the court emphasized that funds had been transferred from Libya, convicting him of illicit association and highlighting the “exceptional gravity of the facts.”

Sarkozy's judicial horizon: previous convictions and open cases

This conviction is not Sarkozy’s first; earlier this year, he was already wearing an electronic ankle monitor. He also has two prior convictions from 2012 for corruption, influence peddling, and illegal campaign financing, in addition to other ongoing cases.

Although six out of ten French citizens consider his imprisonment “fair,” according to a recent poll, his criticism of the alleged politicization of judges has garnered support from sectors of the right and far-right.

The fine line of judicial independence

The prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into threats made on social networks against the magistrate in the case, and even the current president, center-right Emmanuel Macron, felt compelled to defend the justice system.

However, on Friday, Macron received him at the Élysée Palace, the seat of the presidency. “It was only natural, on a human level, that I received one of my predecessors in this context,” Macron explained on Monday.

Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin also stated that he plans to visit his political mentor in prison—a visit that, according to Rémy Heitz, the prosecutor general of the Court of Cassation, “could infringe on the independence of the magistrates.”