Crowds have gathered to watch the former French president Nicolas Sarkozy be taken to jail as his three sons visit him before he begins his five-year sentence.
Sarkozy, who was the conservative president of France between 2007 and 2012, will become the first former French leader to be jailed since Nazi collaborator Marshal Philippe Petain after World War Two.
The conviction caps years of legal battles over allegations that his 2007 campaign took millions in cash from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was later overthrown and killed during the Arab Spring uprisings.
‘I’m not afraid of prison. I’ll keep my head held high, including at the prison gates,’ Sarkozy told La Tribune Dimanche newspaper ahead of his incarceration.
Sebastien Cauwel, who heads up the high-profile La Santé prison in Paris where Sarkozy will be jailed, said the former President would be held in isolation.
‘He will be able to access the exercise yard, on his own, twice a day, he will have access to an activities room while on his own and he will be alone when inside his prison cell,’ Cauwel told RTL Radio.
Sarkozy’s lawyer Jean-Michel Darrois also told Franceinfo radio that Sarkozy was getting ready for prison by bringing along pullovers and earplugs.
‘He has put together a few bags in which he has put some pullovers as prisons can be cold and some earplugs as there could also be a lot of noise,’ said Darrois.
Sarkozy had told Le Figaro he would take three books for his first week behind bars, including Alexandre Dumas’ ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ – the story of a man unjustly imprisoned who plots his revenge against those who betrayed him.
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy leave their Paris home on Tuesday as Nicolas Sarkozy heads to prison to serve time for a criminal conspiracy to finance his 2007 election campaign with funds from Libya
Supporters of France’s former president Nicolas Sarkozy gather outside his residence ahead of his departure to La Sante prison for incarceration on a five-year prison sentence
Pierre Sarkozy arrives at the house of his father, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy
Son Louis Sarkozy and his wife Natali Husic leave the house of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy
Jean Sarkozy (2ndL) and Pierre Sarkozy (R), sons of France’s former president Nicolas Sarkozy, arrive at their father’s residence ahead of his departure to La Sante Prison
The conviction caps years of legal battles over allegations that Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign took millions in cash from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was later overthrown and killed during the Arab Spring uprisings
While Sarkozy was found guilty of conspiring with close aides to orchestrate the scheme in 2007, he was acquitted of personally receiving or using the funds.
He has consistently denied wrongdoing and called the case politically motivated, saying judges were seeking to humiliate him.
He has appealed, but the nature of his sentence means he must go to jail as his appeal process plays out.
The former president has already been convicted in a separate corruption case, in which he was found guilty of trying to obtain confidential information from a judge in return for career favours, serving that sentence by wearing an electronic tag around the ankle.
Sarkozy’s isolation unit at La Santé prison in Paris, which in the past has housed leftist militant Carlos the Jackal and Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega, features inmates are housed in single cells and kept apart during outdoor activities for security reasons.
Conditions are similar to the rest of the prison: cells measure 100 to 130 square feet and, following renovations, now include private showers.
Sarkozy will have access to a television – for a monthly fee of 14euros – and a landline telephone.
The decision to jail a former president has sparked outrage among Sarkozy’s political allies and the far right.
However, the ruling reflects a shift in France’s approach to white-collar crime, following reforms introduced under a previous Socialist government.
A supporter holds a poster with a portrait of Nicolas Sarkozy and the slogan ‘Strong France’ as people attend a gathering called by the sons of the former French President
People gather outside former French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s home, Tuesday, October 21, 2025 in Paris
Carla Bruni took a scooter ride through Paris with a friend, while her husband Nicolas Sarkozy went for what may be his final jog on Monday
In the 1990s and 2000s, many convicted politicians avoided prison altogether.
To counter perceptions of impunity, French judges are increasingly issuing ‘provisional execution’ orders – requiring sentences to begin immediately, even as appeals are pending – legal experts and politicians told Reuters.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been banned from running for office under the same ‘provisional execution’ provision, pending an appeal early next year.
According to an October 1 Elabe poll for BFM TV, 58 per cent of French respondents believe the verdict was impartial, and 61 per cent support the decision to send Sarkozy to jail without waiting for the appeal.
President Emmanuel Macron, who had warm relations with Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni, said on Monday he had met Sarkozy ahead of his incarceration.
Justice minister Gerald Darmanin, who is close to Sarkozy, told France Inter radio he would go and visit the former president.
