Nicolas Sarkozy Becomes First Former French President to Serve Prison Time Over Libyan Funding Scandal

France’s former president Nicolas Sarkozy is set to begin his prison sentence on Tuesday, October 21, after being convicted of criminal conspiracy linked to alleged Libyan financing of his 2007 presidential campaign — a historic ruling that makes him the first ex-head of an EU nation to serve time behind bars.

Sarkozy, who governed France from 2007 to 2012, was found guilty in late September for his involvement in a scheme connected to the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, whose regime prosecutors claim secretly bankrolled Sarkozy’s campaign. The 69-year-old, denouncing the ruling as an “injustice,” has filed an appeal but must still report to La Santé Prison in Paris.

“If they absolutely want me to sleep in prison, I will sleep in prison, but with my head held high,”
— Nicolas Sarkozy, following the September 25 verdict.

Sarkozy becomes the first French leader jailed since Philippe Pétain, the wartime head of the Nazi-collaborationist Vichy regime. According to AFP sources, the former president will likely be kept in a nine-square-metre solitary cell, isolated from other inmates to prevent any unauthorized contact or photos taken with smuggled phones.

The length of his incarceration remains unclear. Judge Nathalie Gavarino, who described the offences as of “exceptional gravity,” ordered his detention despite the ongoing appeal. Sarkozy’s lawyers are expected to immediately seek his release, possibly under judicial supervision or house arrest with an electronic ankle tag.

Until then, he will reportedly remain largely in isolation, allowed only brief daily walks in a small courtyard.

Sarkozy’s conviction adds to a growing list of legal troubles that have followed him since leaving office. He has already been convicted twice — including a corruption case involving attempts to obtain confidential information from a judge. Part of that sentence was served under house arrest until May, when his monitor was removed.

In the ongoing “Libyan case,” prosecutors alleged that Sarkozy’s associates, with his knowledge, brokered an illicit deal with Gaddafi’s regime in 2005, agreeing to rehabilitate Gaddafi’s image internationally in return for campaign funds. However, the court did not find evidence that Sarkozy personally received or used Libyan money. He was acquitted of embezzlement, passive corruption, and illegal campaign financing.

Following a previous conviction, Sarkozy was stripped of the Legion of Honour, France’s highest distinction. Despite this, he remains a figure of admiration among conservative supporters.

A recent Elabe poll showed that six in ten French citizens view his latest sentence as “fair.” His son, Louis Sarkozy, has urged supporters to gather outside the family’s residence on Tuesday morning to show solidarity.

Meanwhile, Judge Gavarino has reportedly received death threats since delivering the verdict, drawing condemnation from President Emmanuel Macron, who called the intimidation “unacceptable.”

La Santé Prison has a long history of housing notorious inmates — from Venezuelan militant Carlos the Jackal to French model agent Jean-Luc Brunel, a close associate of Jeffrey Epstein, who was found dead in his cell in 2022 while awaiting trial for the rape of minors.