Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy starts five-year jail term

Sarkozy was convicted of transgression conspiracy for seeking run funds for the 2007 predetermination from Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi.

France’s erstwhile president Nicolas Sarkozy has arrived astatine a situation successful Paris to commencement serving a five-year jailhouse sentence.

The 70-year-old person arrived astatine La Sante situation successful a constabulary car connected Tuesday morning, becoming the archetypal erstwhile caput of an European Union authorities to beryllium jailed.

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Sarkozy was sentenced to 5 years aft being found blameworthy past month of criminal conspiracy, owed to having accepted millions of euros successful amerciable payments from the precocious Libyan ruler, Muammar Gaddafi, to money his 2007 predetermination campaign.

He has ever denied the charges. His lawyers said arsenic helium arrived to commencement his condemnation that a petition for merchandise had been instantly filed.

“It is not a erstwhile president of the republic being jailed this morning, but an guiltless man,” helium said connected X connected his mode to prison. “Truth volition prevail.”

Dozens of supporters and household members had stood extracurricular Sarkozy’s location from aboriginal Tuesday, immoderate holding up framed portraits.

“Free Nicolas,” they shouted arsenic helium departed to caput to the jail. Earlier, they had sung the French nationalist anthem, arsenic neighbours looked connected from their balconies.

“This is genuinely a bittersweet time for France and for democracy,” said Flora Amanou, 41, who came to amusement her support.

People basal extracurricular Sarkozy’s location with French flags with inscriptions speechmaking ‘Courage Nicolas, travel backmost soon’, right, and ‘True France with Nicolas’ [Masha Macpherson/AP]

Sarkozy is the archetypal French person to beryllium imprisoned since Philippe Petain, the Nazi collaborationist caput of state, who was jailed aft World War II.

He told Le Figaro paper helium volition beryllium taking with him a biography of Jesus and a transcript of The Count of Monte Cristo, a caller successful which an guiltless antheral is sentenced to jailhouse but escapes to instrumentality revenge.

He is apt to beryllium held successful a nine-square-metre (95-square-foot) compartment successful the prison’s solitary confinement wing, situation unit told the AFP quality agency.

This is simply a information measure, meaning helium volition debar interaction with different prisoners, according to staff.

In solitary confinement, prisoners are allowed retired of their cells for 1 locomotion a day, alone, successful a tiny yard. Sarkozy volition besides beryllium allowed visits 3 times a week.

It is unclear however agelong helium volition stay successful jail.

Presiding justice Nathalie Gavarino said during sentencing that the offences were of “exceptional gravity”, and truthful ordered Sarkozy to beryllium jailed adjacent if helium filed an appeal.

The tribunal has 2 months to analyse the merchandise entreaty lodged by his lawyers.