Nicolas Sarkozy: Video Shows Prison Where Former French President Will Be “Residing”
- Nicolas Sarkozy becomes France’s first former president since World War Two to begin a jail term
- The ex-president will serve time in isolation, occupying a small cell equipped with basic amenities and allowed one hour of exercise daily
- Sarkozy maintains his innocence in the Libyan funding case, as supporters rally and his lawyer files an immediate appeal for release
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has entered La Santé Prison in southern Paris to begin his five-year sentence for conspiring to finance his 2007 presidential campaign with funds allegedly sourced from the late Libyan ruler, Muammar Gaddafi.
The 70-year-old becomes the first French leader since World War Two to serve jail time, a dramatic moment that has stirred national debate over justice and political accountability in France.
Source: Getty Images
Crowds gathered outside Sarkozy’s upscale villa in the 16th arrondissement on Monday morning, applauding as he departed hand-in-hand with his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.
Their son Louis had earlier called for a show of support, while another son, Pierre, asked well-wishers to send “only love.”
Sarkozy was driven under heavy police escort to La Santé Prison, a 19th-century facility in the Montparnasse district, arriving shortly before 10 a.m. local time. Dozens of officers blocked nearby streets as his convoy entered the gates of the heavily guarded complex.
Inside La Santé prison’s isolation wing
La Santé is one of France’s oldest and most infamous jails, known for housing high-profile inmates ranging from politicians to terror convicts.
Sarkozy will serve his term in the isolation wing, an area designed to separate vulnerable or high-risk prisoners from the general population.
His cell measures roughly 9 to 11 square meters and contains basic amenities including a shower, toilet, desk, small cooker, and a compact television, for which he will pay a monthly €14 fee.
Source: Getty Images
Reports indicate he will also be allowed a small refrigerator and limited communication with family through visits, letters, and phone calls.
A former deputy head of the prison, Flavie Rault, described life in the isolation unit as “pretty hard,” noting that detainees “never come across another prisoner for security reasons” and experience a level of social solitude that “makes life difficult.” Sarkozy will be allowed one hour of solitary exercise daily in a separate courtyard.
His lawyer, Christophe Ingrain, confirmed that an appeal for his release has already been filed, insisting there is “no justification” for his imprisonment.
According to Ingrain, the former president may remain in custody for “three weeks or a month” while the court reviews the application.
Political reaction and legal future
Sarkozy, who has maintained his innocence, said on X that he has “no doubt truth will prevail,” adding that “it is not a former president they are locking up this morning, it is an innocent man.”
He expressed sorrow “for a France humiliated by a will for revenge.”
President Emmanuel Macron received Sarkozy at the Élysée Palace last week and later told reporters that it was “normal on a human level” to meet with his predecessor.
However, he declined to comment directly on the court ruling, describing it as a judicial matter beyond the presidency’s purview.
Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin announced plans to visit Sarkozy in prison, citing his duty to ensure the ex-president’s safety and humane treatment.
“I cannot be insensitive to a man’s distress,” he said.
Sarkozy’s legal challenges are far from over. France’s top administrative court is expected to deliver a verdict next month on his separate appeal related to the Bygmalion affair, another illegal campaign financing case.
Before entering prison, Sarkozy told La Tribune that he was “not afraid of prison” and would “keep his head held high.”
He carried with him two books: The Life of Jesus by Jean-Christian Petitfils and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas — the tale of a man unjustly imprisoned who ultimately finds redemption.
Tinubu meets French president
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that President Bola Tinubu visited his counterpart in France, Emmanuel Macron, at the Élysée Palace in Paris on Wednesday, September 10. This would be the fifth time the Nigerian president would be visiting the French president since his inauguration on May 29, 2023.
Bayo Onanuga, the spokesperson to the president, explained that the Nigerian leader was on a private working lunch at the Élysée Palace in Paris, the French capital, while sharing photos of the two leaders together.
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Source: Legit.ng
