France’s former president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has begun serving a five-year prison sentence after arriving at a Paris jail.
The 70-year-old was driven to La Santé prison in a police car on Tuesday morning, becoming the first ex-leader of a European Union country to be incarcerated.
He was handed the sentence last month after being found guilty of criminal conspiracy for allegedly receiving millions of euros in illicit funds from the late Libyan ruler, Muammar Gaddafi, to finance his 2007 presidential bid.
Sarkozy has maintained his innocence. His lawyers said that as he arrived at the prison, they immediately filed a request for his release.
“It is not a former president of the republic being jailed this morning, but an innocent man,” he wrote on X while heading to prison. “Truth will prevail.”
From early Tuesday, dozens of supporters and relatives gathered outside his home, some holding framed pictures of him.
“Free Nicolas,” they shouted as he left for jail. Earlier, they had sung the French national anthem while neighbors watched from their balconies.
“This is truly a sad day for France and for democracy,” said Flora Amanou, 41, who came to show her support.
Sarkozy is the first French leader to be imprisoned since Philippe Pétain, the wartime head of state who collaborated with the Nazis and was jailed after World War II.
He told Le Figaro that he would take with him a biography of Jesus and a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo, a story about an innocent man wrongfully jailed who later escapes to seek revenge.
Prison officials told AFP that Sarkozy would likely be kept in a nine-square-meter (95-square-foot) cell in the prison’s solitary confinement unit.
The arrangement is for security reasons, ensuring he has no contact with other inmates, officials said.
In solitary, inmates are allowed one walk per day alone in a small yard and can receive visitors three times a week.
It is still uncertain how long Sarkozy will remain behind bars.
During sentencing, Judge Nathalie Gavarino described the crimes as “exceptionally grave” and ordered that Sarkozy serve his sentence even if he filed an appeal.
The court now has two months to review the release request submitted by his legal team.
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