Overview
- Former president Nicolas Sarkozy entered Paris’s La Santé prison on October 21 and was placed in an isolation unit for security, beginning a five-year sentence for association to commit offenses tied to his 2007 campaign.
- Sarkozy becomes the first former French head of state jailed since World War II, a milestone underscored by his public statement insisting he is innocent and calling the case a judicial scandal.
- The Paris court found an organized scheme to channel funds from Muammar Gaddafi’s regime toward Sarkozy’s 2007 run, though some reports note judges did not prove he personally received or spent the money.
- Judges ordered immediate custody before appeals are resolved, a move criticized by Sarkozy and supporters, as political tensions rose over President Emmanuel Macron’s October 17 meeting with him and the justice minister’s planned prison visit.
- Defense lawyers have filed for conditional release available to detainees aged 70 and over, with a decision expected within weeks to two months as an appeal process proceeds, including appellate hearings referenced for 2026.