Sarkozy goes to jail

THE former French president Nicolas Sarkozy arrived yesterday morning at a prison in Paris to begin serving a five-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.

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Sarkozy, hand-in-hand with his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, left home before getting into a car and travelling to La Santé prison.

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

Sarkozy contests both the conviction and a judge’s unusual decision to jail him, pending an appeal.