Former French President Sarkozy starts 5-year prison sentence

By Michel Rose

PARIS (Reuters) -Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy began a five-year sentence on Tuesday for conspiring to raise campaign funds from Libya, arriving at La Sante prison in Paris in a stunning downfall for a man who led the country between 2007 and 2012.

The former conservative president, 70, left his home for the car journey to the prison, walking hand in hand with his wife Carla Bruni and cheered by a crowd of supporters chanting "Nicolas, Nicolas" and singing La Marseillaise national anthem.

Sarkozy, who was convicted and sentenced last month, is the first former French leader to be jailed since Nazi collaborator Marshal Philippe Petain after World War Two.

SARKOZY SAYS HE IS INNOCENT

Shortly after he headed for La Sante, Sarkozy published a long message on X in which he claimed to be a victim of revenge and hatred.

"I want to tell (French people), with the unshakable strength that is mine, that it is not a former president of the Republic who is being imprisoned this morning — it is an innocent man," he said.

Sarkozy's conviction capped years of legal battles over allegations that his 2007 campaign took millions in cash from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was later overthrown and killed during the Arab Spring uprisings.

While Sarkozy was found guilty of conspiring with close aides to orchestrate the scheme, he was acquitted of personally receiving or using the funds.

He has consistently denied wrongdoing and has called the case politically motivated.

His lawyers said they had filed a request for early release, pending his appeals trial, and that they expected this request to be reviewed in about a month. They said they hoped they could get Sarkozy freed on early release by Christmas.

SARKOZY TO BE HELD IN ISOLATION UNIT

Sarkozy will likely be held in La Sante's isolation unit, where inmates are housed in single cells and kept apart during outdoor activities for security reasons. 

Conditions are similar to the rest of the prison: cells measure 9 to 12 square meters (100 to 130 square feet) and, following renovations, now include private showers.

Sarkozy will have access to a television - for a monthly fee of 14 euros ($16) - and a landline telephone.

Sarkozy told Le Figaro he would take three books for his first week behind bars, including Alexandre Dumas' "The Count of Monte Cristo" - the story of a man who is unjustly imprisoned and who plots his revenge against those who betrayed him.

The decision to jail a former president has sparked outrage among Sarkozy's political allies and the far right.

"Nicolas Sarkozy is not a criminal," said Sarkozy supporter Jacqueline Fraboulet, who was among the crowd cheering him on Tuesday. "We actually feel like the justice system is taking the power, and that's not good for France."

Sarkozy's children and brothers also attended the gathering. Sarkozy, looking sombre, waved at his supporters before heading into his car for the journey to La Sante.

FRANCE GETS TOUGHER ON WHITE-COLLAR CRIME

The sentencing reflected a shift in France's approach to white-collar crime. In the 1990s and 2000s, many convicted politicians avoided prison altogether.

Despite his legal troubles, Sarkozy's political influence has proved resilient as French society has shifted to the right.

President Emmanuel Macron, who had warm relations with Sarkozy and Bruni, said on Monday he had met Sarkozy ahead of his incarceration. Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said he would visit him in prison.

That angered left-wing politicians who said Macron and Darmanin were breaching judicial independence.

The son of a Hungarian immigrant, Sarkozy became president in 2007, pledging to shake things up with pro-business reforms that would reinvigorate France's stagnant economy and elevate the country to the top table of global players.

Those efforts were quickly upended by the 2008-2009 economic crisis, and voters gave him little credit for raising the retirement age to 62 from 60 and loosening rules requiring a maximum 35-hour work week.

(Reporting by Manuel Ausloos Clotaire Achi, Sudip Kar-Gupta, Benoit Van Overstraeten, Jean-Stephane Brosse; Writing by Ingrid Melander and Michel Rose;Editing by Alison Williams, Benoit Van Overstraeten and Frances Kerry)