Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has officially begun serving his five-year prison sentence after being found guilty of criminal conspiracy in the high-profile Libya campaign funding case.
Sarkozy, 70, arrived at La Santé Prison in southern Paris on Tuesday morning, accompanied by his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.
He waved to supporters as his motorcade, escorted by dozens of police vehicles, made its way through the city.
The former French leader was convicted last month for accepting illegal campaign funds from the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi to finance his 2007 presidential campaign.
In exchange, prosecutors said Sarkozy offered diplomatic favors to the North African regime.
Justice officials confirmed that Sarkozy will be held either in solitary confinement or in the so-called “VIP wing” of the La Santé complex, which is reserved for high-profile or vulnerable inmates.
Sarkozy, who served as France’s president from 2007 to 2012, maintains his innocence and has filed an appeal.
“It’s not a former president being locked up this morning, it’s an innocent man,” he declared in a statement posted to X shortly after leaving his home.
He said his imprisonment represented “a humiliation for France,” calling it “an expression of vengeance that has taken hatred to an unprecedented level.”
Despite his conviction, Sarkozy said he felt supported by his family and friends. “I am not to be pitied,” he wrote. “My wife and children are by my side, and my friends are countless.”
The five-year sentence marks the first time a modern French president has been jailed. Sarkozy has faced multiple legal challenges since leaving office, including previous convictions for corruption and influence peddling.
The former leader, who once promised to restore France’s global influence, now faces what could be the most humiliating chapter of his political life behind the walls of one of Paris’s oldest prisons.
