Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy Begins Jail Term Over Libyan Funding Scandal

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has begun a five-year prison term for allegedly using Libyan funds to finance his 2007 campaign. He denies the charges, calling himself innocent, and has appealed the sentence.

Nicolas Sarkozy has made history as the first former French president to be sent to jail, beginning a five-year sentence for allegedly conspiring to finance his election campaign with funds from the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
This marks the first time since 1945—when World War Two collaborationist leader Philippe Pétain was imprisoned for treason—that a French ex-head of state has been incarcerated.

Sarkozy, who governed France from 2007 to 2012, has appealed his sentence but reported to La Santé prison, where he is being held in a small cell in the isolation wing. As he left his villa in Paris’s elite 16th district, more than a hundred supporters gathered, cheering and chanting “Nicolas!” while he held hands with his wife, singer Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.

His son Louis, 28, had earlier called for public support, while another son, Pierre, asked for messages of love and encouragement. Sarkozy, aged 70, arrived at the 19th-century La Santé facility in the Montparnasse district at 09:40 (07:40 GMT), as police blocked off surrounding streets for security. Despite the conviction, Sarkozy continues to assert his innocence in what he describes as a politically motivated case.

Posting on X as he was driven to jail, Sarkozy wrote: “I have no doubt. Truth will prevail. But how crushing the price will have been. With unwavering strength I tell the French people—it is not a former president they are locking up this morning, it is an innocent man. Do not feel sorry for me because my wife and children are by my side, but this morning I feel deep sorrow for a France humiliated by a will for revenge.”

Moments after his imprisonment, his lawyer Christophe Ingrain filed a request for his release, insisting that “nothing justifies his detention.” Ingrain added that Sarkozy might remain behind bars for “at least three weeks or a month.”

Although Sarkozy has requested no special privileges, he has been placed in isolation for safety reasons due to the presence of inmates convicted of terrorism or drug-related crimes. His cell, located on the top floor, measures between 9 and 11 square meters (95–120 sq ft) and includes a toilet, shower, desk, electric hob, and a small TV for which he will pay a monthly €14 (£12) fee. He also has the right to a small fridge, family visits, and written or phone communication with the outside world.

However, he will remain in near-solitary confinement, permitted only one hour of daily exercise alone in a separate courtyard. Flavie Rault, a former deputy head of La Santé, told BFMTV that isolation conditions are “pretty hard,” explaining that detainees “are alone all the time” and have contact only with prison staff.

Just days before his imprisonment, Sarkozy was hosted at the Élysée Palace by President Emmanuel Macron. Macron later told reporters it was “normal on a human level” to receive one of his predecessors under such circumstances. On Tuesday, Macron emphasized that he would not comment on judicial matters but acknowledged that “the sight of a president jailed by this judicial decision would inevitably provoke strong emotions.”

Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin also expressed sympathy, announcing plans to visit Sarkozy in prison, saying, “I cannot be insensitive to a man’s distress,” and noting his duty to ensure the ex-president’s safety and welfare.

Since leaving office in 2012, Sarkozy has faced a string of legal troubles. Last year, he was convicted of attempting to bribe a magistrate for confidential information in a separate case, resulting in several months under electronic surveillance. France’s highest administrative court is due to rule next month on his appeal against a six-month prison term in another illegal campaign finance case known as the “Bygmalion affair.”

Ahead of his imprisonment, Sarkozy told La Tribune newspaper: “I’m not afraid of prison. I’ll keep my head held high, including at the prison gates.” He continues to deny wrongdoing in the Libyan money case, which centers on claims that his 2007 campaign received millions of euros in cash from Gaddafi’s regime.

Although he was acquitted of personally taking funds, Sarkozy was found guilty of criminal association alongside two longtime allies, Brice Hortefeux and Claude Guéant. Both were accused of arranging secret financing with Libyan officials, including Gaddafi’s intelligence chief and brother-in-law, in a 2005 meeting organized by Franco-Lebanese middleman Ziad Tiakeddine—who died in Lebanon shortly before the verdict.

While Sarkozy remains legally innocent pending appeal, judges ruled that he must begin his sentence due to the “exceptional seriousness of the offences.” He reportedly brought two books with him to prison: The Life of Jesus by Jean-Christian Petitfils and Alexandre Dumas’s The Count of Monte Cristo—the tale of a man unjustly imprisoned who ultimately triumphs over his accusers.