Ex-French President Nicolas Sarkozy starts five-year prison sentence for conspiracy with Gadhafi

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday started his five-year prison sentence after being found guilty of criminal conspiracy with the late Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi.

This is the first time a former leader of modern France has been imprisoned, CNN reported.

Sarkozy is serving his sentence at La Santé Prison in southern Paris.

Last month, Sarkozy received his five-year prison sentence from a court, where one of the judges said he was guilty of letting his close associates “act with the aim of obtaining financial support” from the Libyan regime. The panel of judges dismissed corruption charges against Sarkozy, finding no evidence of Libyan funds being used in his 2007 campaign.

Sarkozy testified in court during his trial, denying any allegations of wrongdoing and calling the accusations against him grotesque and baseless. He said Gadhafi’s visit allowed France to sign billions of euros' worth of contracts with Libya.

Sarkozy left office in 2012, and has appealed his conviction. While going through the appeals process, he is expected to be in a cell either in solitary confinement or in the “VIP wing” of La Santé prison complex, where prisoners are kept out of the prison’s general population.

Sarkozy posted a statement on X on Tuesday as he left for prison, saying, “As I prepare to step inside the walls of La Santé prison, my thoughts go out to the French people of all walks of life and opinions.”

“I want to tell them with my unwavering strength that it’s not a former president of the Republic being locked up this morning, it’s an innocent man,” he continued.

Sarkozy added that he will “continue to denounce this judicial scandal,” but that he is “not to be pitied because my wife and children are by my side, and my friends are countless.”

He also said he felt “a deep sorrow for France, which finds itself humiliated by the expression of a vengeance that has taken hatred to an unprecedented level.”

Sarkozy’s legal team has requested that the court grant him an early release from jail. The court has two months to decide whether it will grant the request.