Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy began serving a five-year prison sentence for conspiring to raise campaign funds from Libya on Tuesday, arriving at La Sante prison in Paris - in a stunning setback for the man who led the country between 2007 and 2012.
The 70-year-old former conservative president left his home and drove to prison, holding hands with his wife Carla Bruni, as the gathered supporters cheered him on with shouts of "Nicola, Nikola" and singing "La Marseillaise."
Sarkozy, who was convicted and sentenced last month, is the first former French leader to be jailed since Marshal Philippe Petain, a collaborator with the Nazis during World War II.
La Sante is a famous prison in the heart of Paris, where leftist militant Carlos the Jackal and Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega were once imprisoned.
Sarkozy will be housed in an isolated section of the prison - one of the most secure in France - meaning he will be alone in a cell, a courtyard and an activity room, prison director Sebastien Covel told RTL radio yesterday.
Sarkozy's former associate Claude Guétan, who was also found guilty, will serve his sentence in a special wing for "vulnerable persons" - the so-called "VIP chambers", where prominent political officials have been imprisoned in the past.
The French Justice Ministry and the La Sante prison administration did not respond to Reuters questions about where exactly Sarkozy will be held.
La Sante's location in the capital will make it easier for friends and family to visit him. Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin, a Sarkozy protégé who now runs the prison system, said on Monday he would visit the former president behind bars.
Prisoners in the "VIP" wing are housed in separate cells, rather than the usual three-bed rooms, and for security reasons are kept alone during outdoor activities, Wilfried Fonk, a representative of the prison guards' union, told Reuters.
In addition, Fonk stated that the conditions are no better than in the rest of the prison, where cells are usually between 9 and 12 square meters.
The isolation cells, located in a separate wing, are about 9 square meters and have windows covered to limit communication between detainees.
La Sante prison has recently been renovated, so conditions are better than in many other prisons, says Julien Fishmeister from the French section of the International Prison Observatory.
All cells now have their own bathrooms and landline telephones. Sarkozy will also have access to a television, but he will have to pay 14 euros a month for that convenience.
Fischmeister added that Sarkozy's meals will be delivered to his cell, but that the prison also allows prisoners to buy groceries and prepare their own meals in their cells.
The former president said on Sunday that he is not afraid of going to prison and plans to use his time there to write a book. Still, being behind bars could be a disturbing experience for a leader known for his tough stance on crime, who once called rebellious suburban youth "scum" and threatened to "cleanse" them with water cannons.
Like many prisons in France, La Sante is overcrowded, with 1.243 prisoners held in August, despite its capacity being 657. France ranks third in Europe in prison overcrowding, after Slovenia and Cyprus, according to 2024 Council of Europe data.
Darmanin is leading a government initiative to tighten conditions for dangerous inmates in prisons across France.
Police say some prisoners are using smuggled mobile phones to run drug deals, and some have even used them to order the murders of rivals. Some have been filmed ordering kebabs and sushi via video call, which are delivered to their cells by drones.
Earlier this year, a series of attacks on prisons across France were reported. Authorities say they were organized by members of a Telegram group calling itself French Prisoners' Rights, with the aim of highlighting the appalling conditions in which prisoners are held.
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