Overview
- Roughly 30 lawyers filed a complaint accusing Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin of partiality after his visit to Nicolas Sarkozy at Paris's Santé prison.
- The filing cites Darmanin's public expressions of grief and references to his past work for Sarkozy as evidence that his neutrality is compromised.
- Darmanin defends the visit as part of his administrative duty to verify the inmate's safety and argues it does not threaten judicial independence.
- Sarkozy is serving a five-year sentence ordered into immediate effect over alleged 2007 Libya-linked campaign financing, with an appeal pending and an early-release request submitted.
- The 70-year-old is held in an isolated, specially protected area and remains accompanied by bodyguards, a setup that has prompted internal justice-sector criticism.