Nicolas Sarkozy, former President of France, has recently started his five-year sentence in La Santé prison in Paris. This comes in the wake of his recent criminal conspiracy conviction. This line comes directly from a plan to fraudulently obtain campaign contributions. Sarkozy, the money came from the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi to Sarkozy’s successful 2007 presidential campaign. Sarkozy’s imprisonment is an unprecedented moment for European political history. He has thus become the first former leader of an EU member-state to be sentenced to prison and the first postwar French head of state to be imprisoned.
When he first arrives he will likely be put in solitary confinement for his own protection. He will live by himself in a single cell that is about 9 square meters and has its own shower and toilet. Such an arrangement is common practice for high-profile inmates, balancing security needs with a right to privacy. In addition to the strictures of incarceration, Sarkozy will be permitted two family visits a week.
His legal team quickly followed up with a motion for his release as soon as he was incarcerated. The appeals court has 60 days to consider this petition. Sarkozy has consistently denied any wrongdoing. He argues adamantly that he never engaged in a criminal conspiracy to receive Libyan election funds. He has further appealed his conviction, admitting no wrongdoing and continuing to fight the charge.
Only four out of ten French people think that Sarkozy’s sentence to prison was “unfair.” Meanwhile, the public is decidedly split in their opinions about the former president. In his heyday, he was a titan of French political Akira.
Sarkozy was previously acquitted of three other charges, including corruption, misuse of Libyan public funds, and illegal election campaign funding. The criminal conspiracy charge ended up being serious enough to justify a prison sentence.
As he starts his sentence behind bars, Sarkozy passes through the prison gates carrying family photographs and three books. Among his choices are a biography of Jesus and Alexandre Dumas’ classic, “The Count of Monte Cristo.” These private effects are allowed in the first seven days of his incarceration.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Sarkozy’s lawyers have already complained about the conditions he might face in prison. He told Le Figaro that a friend advised him to bring earplugs. The ring of the prison telephone or the metal clatter of a cafeteria tray, for example, is deafening.
“At night you hear lots of noise, shouting, screaming.” – Nicolas Sarkozy
The consequences of Sarkozy’s imprisonment thus extended well past the walls of La Santé prison. French President Emmanuel Macron commented on the situation, stating that “It was normal, on a human level, for me to receive one of my predecessors in this context,” highlighting the gravity of Sarkozy’s legal troubles as they reflect on the broader political landscape.
Sarkozy’s defenders on social media and in far-right circles have decried the decision to imprison him as a “judicial scandal.” He proposes that the judicial system has conspired against him. This comment reflects how personally Sarkozy seems to feel about his legal troubles, and how threatened he feels by them on his legacy.