Nicolas Sarkozy has become the first French ex-president to go to jail, starting a five-year sentence for conspiring to fund his election campaign with money from late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Not since World War Two Nazi collaborationist leader Philippe Pétain was jailed for treason in 1945 has any French ex-leader gone behind bars.
Sarkozy, who was president from 2007-2012, has appealed against his jail term at La Santé prison, where he will occupy a small cell in its isolation wing.
More than 100 people applauded and shouted Nicolas! as he left his villa in the exclusive 16th district of Paris, holding his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy by the hand.
His son Louis, 28, had appealed to supporters for a show of support, while another son, Pierre, called for a message of love – nothing else, please.
Nicolas Sarkozy, 70, was driven through the entrance of the notoriously overcrowded 19th-Century prison in the Montparnasse district in a heavily secured convoy.
He continues to protest his innocence in the highly controversial Libyan money affair and posted a message on X as he was driven to the jail, saying: I have no doubt. Truth will prevail. But how crushing the price will have been.
Following his entry into jail, his lawyer announced filing a request for his release, asserting that nothing justified his imprisonment.
While Sarkozy stated that he wanted no special treatment during his incarceration, he was placed in isolation, primarily for his safety due to the profiles of other inmates in the general population.
Sarkozy's imprisonment has profound implications, raising discussions about political accountability in France. President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged that seeing a former president imprisoned could provoke strong reactions across the nation.
This episode not only marks a significant event in Sarkozy's life but also in the ongoing dialogue surrounding the intersection of politics and justice in contemporary France.
