France’s former president Sarkozy will begin serving a 5-year prison sentence Tuesday
Nicolas Sarkozy will become the first former French president in living memory to be imprisoned when he is expected to begin a five-year sentence Tuesday in Paris La Sant prison Convicted of criminal conspiracy in a scheme to finance his vote campaign with funds from Libya Sarkozy maintains his innocence Regardless he will be admitted to serve his time in a prison that has held specific of the majority of high-profile inmates since the th century They include Capt Alfred Dreyfus wrongly convicted of treason because he was Jewish and the Venezuelan militant known as Carlos the Jackal who carried out several attacks on French soil Sarkozy informed Le Figaro newspaper that he expects to be held in solitary confinement where he would be kept away from all other prisoners for prevention reasons Another possibility is that he is held in the prison s section for vulnerable inmates colloquially known as the VIP section Former La Sant inmates described their experiences and what the former president might expect to face The prison which was inaugurated in has been fully renovated in latest years It s not Nicolas Sarkozy president of the Republic that s coming It s a man and he will live exactly the same thing that everyone does Pierre Botton a former businessman-turned-author who was imprisoned in La Sant s vulnerable section between and for misappropriation of funds from a charitable organization narrated The Associated Press In an unprecedented judgment the Paris judge ruled that Sarkozy would start to serve prison time without waiting for his appeal to be heard due to the seriousness of the disruption to community order caused by the offense Sarkozy to hold his head high The former president has denied any wrongdoing and protested the decision that he should be imprisoned pending appeal I m not afraid of prison I ll hold my head high including in front of the doors of La Sant Sarkozy communicated La Tribune Dimanche newspaper I ll fight till the end La Tribune Dimanche reports Sarkozy has his prison bag ready with clothes and family photos he is allowed to bring Sarkozy also explained Le Figaro newspaper he would bring three books the maximum allowed including The Count of Monte Cristo in two volumes and a biography of Jesus Christ The hero of The Count of Monte Cristo by French author Alexandre Dumas escapes from an island prison where he spent years before seeking revenge One of Sarkozy s sons Louis called for a rally Tuesday morning in backing of his father in the high-end Paris neighborhood where Sarkozy lives with his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy The supermodel-turned-singer has shared photos of Sarkozy s children and songs in his honor on her social media feeds since his conviction Under the ruling the -year-old Sarkozy will only be able to file a request for release to the appeals court once he is behind bars and judges will then have up to two months to process the request -square-meter cells The National Financial Prosecutor s office described Sarkozy the specifics of his detention last Monday but details have not been made inhabitants Justice Minister G rald Darmanin endorsed that Sarkozy will enter La Sant on Tuesday and that he ll personally visit him to make sure defense conditions are met In the so-called VIP section Sarkozy could have his own room in one of identical -square-meter cells square feet in a wing separated from other general prison inmates Botton who says he has known Sarkozy for decades expressed doubt that the former president will be accorded a great number of special privileges in prison Even if you are president of the Republic even if you are a very rich man you decide nothing Based on his own experience inside La Sant about which he wrote the book QB Botton described what Sarkozy might expect After being processed convicts are handed personal kit by the guards and then led to their cells They will open the cell and Sarkozy will discover where he will go he explained Botton described the cell he d lived in La Sant A small -centimeter feet inches bed fixed to the floor a hot plate a pay refrigerator a pay TV He disclosed that inmates rooms in the VIP section were equipped with fixed landline phones they can use to make calls which are recorded by prison personnel but they cannot receive calls on the same line The shock of incarceration Patrick Balkany a longtime friend of Sarkozy who spent five months in La Sant for tax evasion in - described the first hours of newly admitted inmates They re going to take his photo to make him a card because over there we re a number we re no longer a person with a name he recounted RTL radio Then if he s considered like any other inmate he undresses and his clothes are searched to make sure he doesn t have any prohibited items on him Balkany declared The hardest part is when you arrive in your cell it s a shock he added Botton also recalled the shock he experienced when his affluent life crumbled when he was sent to prison the first time I went for my first time from my square meter around square feet mansion to square meters he reported From having a private staff of people outside prison he identified himself cleaning a filthy cell when he arrived he stated That s what we call the shock of incarceration When you are at p m you are in jail alone and you heard that everything is locked you are alone Botton says Everything is finished The event is finished AP Writer Sylvie Corbet contributed Source
