French ex-president Sarkozy will serve prison time despite appeal in Libya funding case
A Paris court said Sarkozy must be jailed without delay because ‘of the seriousness of the disruption to public order caused by the offence’
The date for Nicolas Sarkozy’s imprisonment will be set on Monday, after the former French president was sentenced to five years in prison for criminal conspiracy in a scheme to finance his winning 2007 campaign with funds from Libya.
Sarkozy, 70, says he is innocent. He denounced the verdict as “a scandal” and filed an appeal. He is the first former president of modern France sentenced to actual time behind bars.
Sarkozy, who was involved in several other legal cases, was France’s president from 2007 to 2012. He has been retired from active politics for years but remains very influential, especially in conservative circles.
Why Sarkozy is going to prison
In a surprise decision, the Paris court said the prison sentence, which would otherwise have been suspended on appeal, is effective immediately.
Sarkozy must be incarcerated without delay, the court explained, because “of the seriousness of the disruption to public order caused by the offence”.
Still, Sarkozy was given 18 days since the ruling to “organise his professional life” before his summoning by the National Financial Prosecutor’s office to set a date for incarceration.
Sarkozy’s supporters criticised the ruling because Sarkozy, since he appealed, is presumed to be innocent according to French law.