Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s 5-year jail sentence begins this Tuesday

Nicolas Sarkozy this Tuesday turns into the primary former French president in residing reminiscence to be imprisoned as he begins a five-year sentence in Paris’ La Santé jail for prison conspiracy in an try to make use of Libyan cash to finance his 2007 election marketing campaign.

The appropriate-wing president of France between 2007 and 2012, Sarkozy has at all times maintained his innocence however will, in any case, serve his sentence in a jail that has housed among the most well-known prisoners for the reason that 1800s.

They embody Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, wrongly convicted of treason as a result of he was Jewish, and the Venezuelan militant generally known as Carlos the Jackal, who carried out a number of assaults on French soil.

In an unprecedented judgment final month, the Paris decide dominated that Sarkozy would begin to serve jail time with out ready for his attraction to be heard, attributable to “the seriousness of the disruption to public order attributable to the offense.”

Beneath the ruling, the previous French president will solely be capable of file a request for launch to the appeals courtroom as soon as he’s behind bars, and judges will then have as much as two months to course of the request.

The Nationwide Monetary Prosecutor’s workplace instructed Sarkozy the specifics of his detention final Monday, however particulars haven’t been made public. Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin confirmed that Sarkozy will enter La Santé on Tuesday and that he’ll personally go to him to ensure safety circumstances are met.

The La Santé jail

Forward of his incarceration, Sarkozy instructed Le Figaro newspaper that he expects to be held in solitary confinement, the place he can be refrained from all different prisoners for safety causes. One other chance is that he’s held within the jail’s part for “susceptible″ inmates, colloquially generally known as the VIP part.

Within the so-called VIP part, Sarkozy might have his personal room in certainly one of 18 an identical 9-square-meter cells (96.8 sq. toes) in a wing separated from different basic jail inmates.

Former La Santé inmates described their experiences and what the previous president may anticipate to face. The jail, which was inaugurated in 1867, has been totally renovated lately.

“It’s not Nicolas Sarkozy, president of the Republic, that’s coming … It’s a person who will dwell the identical approach everybody does, Pierre Botton, a former businessman-turned-author who was imprisoned in La Santé’s susceptible part between 2020 and 2022 for misappropriation of funds from a charitable organisation.

Botton, who says he has recognized Sarkozy for many years, expressed doubt that the previous president will probably be accorded many particular privileges in jail. “Even if you’re president of the Republic, even if you’re a really wealthy man, you determine nothing.”

Sarkozy to carry his ‘head excessive’

The previous president has denied any wrongdoing and protested the choice that he ought to be imprisoned pending attraction.

“I’m not afraid of jail. I’ll maintain my head excessive, together with in entrance of the doorways of La Santé,” Sarkozy instructed La Tribune Dimanche newspaper. “I’ll combat until the top.”

La Tribune Dimanche stories Sarkozy has his jail bag prepared with garments and 10 household images he’s allowed to carry.

Sarkozy additionally instructed Le Figaro newspaper he would carry three books — the utmost allowed — together with “The Depend of Monte Cristo” in two volumes and a biography of Jesus Christ. The hero of “The Depend of Monte Cristo,” by French writer Alexandre Dumas, escapes from an island jail the place he spent 14 years earlier than in search of revenge.

Certainly one of Sarkozy’s sons, Louis, known as for a rally Tuesday morning in help of his father within the high-end Paris neighborhood the place Sarkozy lives together with his spouse Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. The supermodel-turned-singer has shared images of Sarkozy’s youngsters and songs in his honor on her social media feeds since his conviction.