Overview
- A group of roughly 30 attorneys filed a complaint on October 31 accusing Gérald Darmanin of bias for visiting Nicolas Sarkozy at Paris’s La Santé prison and voicing pity for him.
- Darmanin, a former Sarkozy aide, says the visit was part of his duty to ensure the inmate’s safety and insists judicial independence remains intact.
- Sarkozy began serving a five-year sentence ordered for immediate enforcement following his September conviction tied to illegal campaign financing linked to Libya.
- His legal team has appealed the verdict and has sought early release or out-of-prison confinement based on his age, with the outcome still pending.
- The case has revived concerns over special treatment, including reports of continued bodyguard protection in custody and a pre-incarceration meeting with President Emmanuel Macron defended as normal.