Nicolas Sarkozy, who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012, has made history by becoming the first former French president to be sent to prison. He is beginning a five-year sentence for his role in conspiring to fund his election campaign with illicit funds from the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Sarkozy has appealed his sentence and is currently at La Santé prison, where he will be housed in a small cell within the institution’s isolation wing. The BBC’s Paris Correspondent, Hugh Scofield, has characterized this development as a “big moment” for France, highlighting the profound implications of a former head of state’s imprisonment.
This marks a significant event in French political history, reflecting on the legal and societal consequences of corruption allegations against high-profile political figures.