Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has begun a five-year prison sentence for accepting up to $50 million in laundered money from then-Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi. The 70-year-old was driven from his Paris home to high-security prison La Santé on Tuesday morning (October 21).
Sarkozy, who became the first former French head of state to be put behind bars after wartime Nazi collaborator Marshall Philippe Pétain, was pictured wearing a dark blue jacket and tie as he left his home. He held hands with his third wife, 57-year-old singer and model Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, as a crowd of well-wishers cheered him away. Sarkozy was then driven to the prison where he will stay in a 29-square-foot cell and be isolated from other inmates.
He was officially signed into his cell at 9.40am and there were cries of “Welcome Sarko” and “Sarkozy’s here” from other inmates. A prison source said: “He was well protected, but clearly everyone in the prison knows he’s here. There is a lot of noise at all times, and plenty of people were shouting out welcomes to Mr Sarkozy.”
Those who have spent time at La Santé include notorious terrorists and armed robbers such as Carlos the Jackal (Illich RamÃrez Sanchez) and Jacques Mesrine. Mesrine – who was known as France’s ‘Public Enemy Number 1’ – infamously escaped from La Santé in May 1978.
He got out of a fenced-off exercise yard with two other inmates, and they went up an extending ladder that workmen were using in the prison. The pair then hooked a grappling iron onto the top of the ladder and slid down a rope to freedom.
One of them was shot dead by police, but Mesrine and François Besse, another notorious criminal, hijacked a car and became the first men to escape from jail.
The former French Interior Minister will be allowed to walk in a small yard once a day during his prison term. However, he will not have access to a mobile phone and will be held in solitary confinement to ensure his safety.
Sarkozy is considered a vulnerable prisoner due to his policies while serving as the Interior Minister of France. He was given the nickname “Le Top Cop” and once claimed young offenders should be “blown away with a power hose”.
French Justice Ministry spokesman Sacha Straub-Kahn said: “He will not be in contact with any other inmate in order to guarantee his safety. This is not an exceptional or preferential regime, but a regime adapted to the threats weighing on him.”
Sarkozy previously said he would be reading a biography of Jesus Christ while behind bars. He will also reportedly read The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, which is about a man who escapes from jail to take revenge.
Christophe Ingrain, Sarkozy’s lawyer, said he is appealing the prison sentence. However, the appeal will not be heard for at least a month.
The lawyer said: “He is taking it upon himself to ensure that no one can feel the indignation and anger he feels at suffering this injustice. Humanly, this is an extremely difficult ordeal.”
Sarkozy was elected in 2007 but lost his bid for re-election in 2012. He denied all wrongdoing during a three-month trial that also involved 11 co-defendants, including three former ministers.
As well as the five-year sentence, Sarkozy, who is the first former French president found guilty of accepting illegal foreign funds to win office, was also ordered to pay an £87,000 (€100,000) fine at Paris Correctional Court last month. He was also banned from standing for public office for the next five years.
Sarkozy had already been found guilty of trying to bribe a judge, and illicit campaign funding, following separate trials. During sentencing, Judge Nathalie Gavarino portrayed Sarkozy as a serial offender whose crimes were “exceptionally serious”.
He ruled that the 70-year-old was guilty of having “allowed his close associates to act with a view to obtaining financial support from the Libyan regime”. His wife also faces up to 10 years in prison after being charged with a range of corruption offences, including “witness tampering in an organised gang”.
She is accused of being part of “Operation Save Sarko”. The £4 million campaign, which was illegal, attempted to keep her husband out of jail. She denies any wrongdoing.
Colonel Gaddafi died in 2011 and it is reported that Sarkozy wanted him dead because of his potential to produce incriminating evidence against him. The former Libyan leader was killed by rebel forces after a mass bombing campaign by RAF and French Air Force jets.
