Former French President Begins 5-Year Prison Sentence For Campaign Finance Conspiracy

PARIS (AP) — Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy He arrived at a Paris prison on Tuesday to serve a five-year prison sentence for a criminal conspiracy to finance the 2007 election campaign with funds from Libya.

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

Sarkozy left the house hand in hand with his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and got into the police car and went to the prison.

On his way to prison, Sarkozy said in a statement on social media that “an innocent man” was imprisoned.

Sarkozy’s lawyers said that an immediate release request was made.

He was convicted last month of criminal conspiracy in a scheme to finance the 2007 election campaign with funds from Libya.

Sarkozy appeals both convictions and a judge’s unusual decision to incarcerate him pending appeal. His Journey from the presidential Elysée Palace The infamous La Santé prison in Paris fascinated France.

Minutes before going to prison, Sarkozy and his wife slowly walked to their children and grandchildren in front of his house. He waved to the crowd of supporters gathered in the upscale district of Paris where he lived, then got into his car.

Hundreds of fans applauded, chanted “Nicolas, Nicolas” and sang the French anthem. Two French flags were hung on a nearby fence, with the words “Dare Nicolas, come back soon” and “The real France with Nicolas”.

Sarkozy’s sons and daughters Jean, Pierre, Louis and Giulia and his grandchildren attended the meeting.

Michelle Perié, 67, from Paris, said she came to support “because there was anger and injustice.”

“He is not like the other defendants, he is someone who keeps state secrets, he is someone who always does his job with his head held high. We don’t understand,” he said.

Embattled centrist President Emmanuel Macron Last week, he hosted conservative Sarkozy at the presidential palace. “As a matter of duty, I have always been very clear in my public statements about the independence of the judiciary, but it was normal on a human level to acknowledge one of my predecessors in this context,” Macron said on Monday. he said.

Sarkozy’s lawyers said the former president would be kept in solitary confinement and away from all other inmates for security reasons.

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Christophe Ingrain, said in a statement on BFM TV that the decision to imprison him “strengthened his determination, strengthened his anger to prove his innocence.” Ingrain said Sarkozy plans to write a book about his prison experience.

Another of Sarkozy’s lawyers, Jean-Michel Darrois, said on Tuesday that the former president was “mentally preparing” himself to be held in solitary confinement, where he would be kept away from all other inmates for security reasons.

“First of all, he prepared a bag with some sweaters because it was cold in the prison and earplugs because it was very noisy,” Darrois told news broadcaster France Info. “The isolation is painful, as is what he will experience, but he has prepared himself.”

Speaking to La Tribune Dimanche newspaper, Sarkozy said, “I am not afraid of prison. I will hold my head high, including in front of the doors of La Santé.” “I will fight until the end”

The newspaper said that Sarkozy’s prison bag, containing clothes and 10 family photographs that he was allowed to bring with him, was ready.

Sarkozy told Le Figaro newspaper that he would also bring three books (the maximum number allowed), including “The Count of Monte Cristo,” in which Alexandre Dumas escaped from an island prison before taking revenge.

The Paris judge decided to sentence Sarkozy to prison without waiting for the appeal hearing, due to the “serious disruption of public order caused by the crime”.

According to the decision, 70-year-old Sarkozy will be able to request release from the appeals court only while he is behind bars, and judges will have up to two months to process this request.

AP journalists Angela Charlton, Oleg Cetinic and Nicolas Garriga contributed.