Overview
- Former president Nicolas Sarkozy entered La Santé prison on October 21 to start a five-year sentence for association illicit and illegal financing tied to funds from the Gaddafi regime.
- He is the first former French head of state jailed since World War II after a court ordered the sentence to be executed before appeals are resolved.
- Sarkozy is being held in an isolation unit with a single cell and restricted access, with limited yard time and family visits permitted.
- His defense filed an immediate request for conditional release, which the courts typically review within weeks and must rule on within two months.
- President Emmanuel Macron confirmed meeting Sarkozy at the Élysée days earlier, while top prosecutor Rémy Heitz criticized Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin’s planned prison visit as threatening judicial independence.