Found guilty of criminal association and sentenced to five years in prison on September 25th, Nicolas Sarkozy learned this Monday (13th) thatand will begin serving his sentence on October 21st. The former French president, found guilty in a case of Libyan financing of his campaign in the 2007 presidential campaign, with money from the government of then Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, he will be imprisoned in La Santé prison, in Paris, where he will be detained in a “vulnerable wing”, where he will have a private cell. The division has 9 m² and equipped with shower, fridge and TV.
The “vulnerable wing” of La Santé prison, located in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, is reserved for detainees who meet a series of requirements. The former president is eligible to stay there due to his age, 70 years old, and his notoriety. Although this wing is sometimes called the “VIP wing, this does not mean that “there will be special treatment”the local secretary of the Force Ouvrière union, Hugo Vitry, told BFMTV in September.
The former president will have the right to leave for “at least one walk a day”, specifies Vitry. An exit that is made alone in a courtyard isolated from the rest of the prison’s “classic” inmates.
This is a unprecedented sentence for a former head of the French state and a hard blow for a man who has always claimed his innocence – and who denounces this and other legal proceedings he faced as politically motivated.
Upon leaving the court, after hearing the sentence, the former French president assured: “If they really want me to sleep in prison, I will sleep in prison, but with my head held high.”. “I am innocent, this injustice is a scandal”he said. “I have no spirit of revenge or hatred. I will fight until my last breath to prove my complete innocence,” he added.
Before finding out where he will be imprisoned, Sarkozy gathered friends and collaborators for a farewell. More than a hundred gathered at the Pavillon des Étangs, in the Bois de Boulogne, in Paris, to hear the former president guarantee: “The end of history has not yet been written.” In front of advisors, mayors, members of the security services, makeup artists or secretaries, Sarkozy exclaimed: “Don’t feel sorry for me, I hate whining. What counts for me is your indignation.” And he added: “In a few days, when the scandal is over, I will need your indignation.”
As soon as Sarkozy steps out of prison, his lawyers can present a request for his release to the appeal court. He has two months to analyze the request and, taking into account that the former president meets several requirements to benefit from release – he does not present a risk of reoffending or escaping -, could be released from prison before Christmas.
Criminal investigations
Since losing re-election in 2012, Sarkozy has been the target of several criminal investigations. The former president appealed a February 2024 decision that found him guilty of excessive spending on his re-election campaign and hiring a public relations company to cover up the case. He was sentenced to one year, of which six months were suspended.
In 2021, he was found guilty of trying to bribe a judge in 2014 and became the first former French president to receive a custodial sentence. In December, the Paris Court of Appeal ruled that he could serve his sentence at home, wearing an electronic bracelet, instead of going to prison.