Overview
- The former French president entered La Santé prison on Tuesday morning, a first for any ex-head of state of France or the European Union.
- He was sentenced on September 25 to five years in prison for association de malfaiteurs in the Libyan campaign-financing case, with a mandat de dépôt and exécution provisoire despite his appeal.
- Prison authorities said he is held in the isolation unit and will be alone in his cell, with movements tightly controlled for security.
- His family organized a rally outside his Paris home as he left, and he reiterated his claim of innocence in a message published as he departed.
- Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said he would visit to check on security conditions, drawing warnings from senior magistrates about preserving judicial serenity, and President Emmanuel Macron had privately received Sarkozy on October 17.