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Sarkozy Begins 5-Year Sentence for Criminal Conspiracy

Sarkozy Begins 5-Year Sentence for Criminal Conspiracy
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By Staff, Agencies

The former French president Nicolas Sarkozy entered a prison in Paris, after a court sentenced him to five years for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to obtain election campaign funds from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

France’s rightwing president between 2007 and 2012 is the first former head of an EU country to serve time in prison, and the first French postwar leader to be jailed.

Sarkozy, who is appealing his conviction, avoided being photographed at La Santé prison by staging a departure from his home in western Paris, where he walked with wife Carla Bruni to greet onlookers.

The former president’s children, led by his daughter Giulia, greeted well-wishers outside his home as supporters cheered. Sarkozy’s social media called his imprisonment a "judicial scandal," insisting, "I am innocent."

He was convicted last month of criminal conspiracy for seeking funding from Gaddafi’s regime for his 2007 campaign. Judge Nathalie Gavarino called the case of “exceptional gravity,” saying it could “undermine citizens’ trust.”

Sarkozy’s lawyers filed for his release upon entering jail, and the appeals court has two months to review the request. It could allow release under supervision or home arrest, or deny it to prevent evidence tampering or witness intimidation.

During the trial, the prosecutor described Sarkozy’s actions as a “Faustian pact of corruption” with Gaddafi to secure election funding.

Sarkozy was acquitted of three separate charges of corruption, misuse of Libyan public funds and illegal election campaign funding.

He denied any wrongdoing at his trial, claiming he wasn’t involved in a criminal conspiracy for Libyan election funding. He has appealed, with a new trial expected in six months, but must serve his sentence during the appeal.

The former president will be held in solitary confinement for security, in a 9m² cell with a shower, toilet, and a small TV. He can contact lawyers and family via a controlled phone line and receive two family visits per week. He was advised to use earplugs due to the loud noise at night.

Sarkozy is the first French leader to be incarcerated since Philippe Pétain, the Nazi collaborationist who was jailed after the second world war.

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