Former French President Sarkozy starts 5-year prison term

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived at La Sante prison in Paris on Tuesday to start a five-year sentence for conspiring to raise campaign funds from Libya, in a stunning downfall for a man who led the country between 2007 and 2012.

The former conservative president left his home earlier, walking hand in hand with his wife Carla Bruni and cheered on by a crowd of supporters chanting "Nicolas, Nicolas" and singing France's La Marseillaise national anthem.

Shortly after he stepped into a car to head to La Sante, Sarkozy published a long message on X in which he claimed to be 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.

ACCESS TO TV, LANDLINE AND PRIVATE SHOWER

The conviction caps 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 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.

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.

At La Santé prison in Paris, which in the past has housed leftist rebel Carlos the Jackal and Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega, Sarkozy will likely be held in the isolation unit, where 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 metres and, following renovations, now include private showers.

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

Sarkozy 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 per cent of French respondents believe the verdict was impartial, and 61 per cent support the decision to send Sarkozy to jail without waiting for the appeal.

President Emmanuel Macron, who had warm relations with Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni, said on Monday he had met Sarkozy ahead of his incarceration.