Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Sarkozy Begins Five-Year Prison Term After Libyan-Funding Case Conviction

With the appeal set for March 2026, his lawyers are seeking rapid conditional release.

Overview

  • He entered Paris’s La Santé prison under a court-ordered mandat de dépôt, which enforces immediate detention despite an appeal.
  • Authorities placed him in isolation for security, in a small single cell with restricted amenities and limited contact with other inmates.
  • His legal team has filed for conditional release, with decisions typically delivered in about a month and no later than two months, and alternative measures such as electronic-monitored house arrest have been discussed.
  • The ruling found he allowed close collaborators to pursue Libyan support linked to roughly €50 million, while acquitting him of counts requiring proof of direct transfers to his 2007 campaign.
  • The incarceration has renewed scrutiny of France’s ‘immediate execution’ rule for sentences, with President Emmanuel Macron signaling openness to reexamining the practice.