Ex-French Prez Sarkozy starts 5-year sentence

Paris: Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived at a prison in Paris on Tuesday to begin serving a 5-year sentence for a criminal conspiracy to finance his 2007 election campaign with funds from Libya.

He is the first ex-leader of modern France to be imprisoned. Sarkozy, hand-in-hand with his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, left home before getting into a car and travelling to the La Sante prison.

On his way to prison, Sarkozy said in a statement released on social media that “an innocent man” was being locked up. He was convicted last month for criminal conspiracy in a scheme to finance his 2007 election campaign with funds from Libya.

Sarkozy contests both the conviction and a judge’s unusual decision to incarcerate him pending appeal. His journey from the presidential Elysee Palace to the notorious La Sante prison in Paris has captivated France.

Minutes before entering prison, Sarkozy and his wife walked slowly to join his children and grandchildren outside his home. He waved at a crowd of supporters gathered in the high-end Paris neighbourhood where he lives, then got into his car. Hundreds of supporters applauded and chanted “Nicolas, Nicolas” and sang the French anthem. Two French flags were hung on a nearby fence, with the inscriptions: “Courage Nicolas, return soon” and “true France

with Nicolas.”