"France's ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy is to be jailed on Tuesday after being found guilty of acquiring Libyan funding for his 2007 presidential run. France's right-wing leader from 2007 to 2012, was handed a five-year jail term in September for criminal conspiracy over a plan for late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi to fund his electoral campaign. The 70-year-old, who has appealed the verdict and denounced an "injustice", is to be incarcerated in La Santé prison in Paris."
"Sarkozy will be the first French leader to be incarcerated since Philippe Petain, the Nazi collaborationist head of state who was jailed after World War II. He has told Le Figaro, a right-leaning newspaper, that he will be taking with him a biography of Jesus and a copy of "The Count of Monte Cristo", a novel in which an innocent man is sentenced to jail but escapes to take revenge."
"The former president is likely to be held in a nine square metre cell in the prison's solitary confinement wing, prison staff told AFP. This would avoid Sarkozy having to interact with other prisoners or them taking pictures of him with one of the many mobile phones that are smuggled inside, according to staff, who requested anonymity because they are not allowed to talk to the press."
Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced to five years in prison for criminal conspiracy related to obtaining Libyan funding for his 2007 presidential campaign. He has appealed the verdict, described the ruling as an "injustice", and will begin incarceration at La Santé prison in Paris. Family and supporters have been urged to show solidarity as he leaves his Paris home. He will be the first former French head of state incarcerated since Philippe Petain. Sarkozy plans to take a biography of Jesus and a copy of "The Count of Monte Cristo" to prison. Prison staff say he will likely be held in a nine-square-metre solitary cell with one daily walk. The presiding judge cited the offences' "exceptional gravity", and the length of actual detention remains unclear.
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