Sarkozy shares last kiss with wife before going to prison

Nicolas Sarkozy shared a last kiss with wife Carla Bruni as he left home to begin his five-year jail sentence yesterday, marking a stunning downfall for the former French president.

- MICHEL ROSE

The conservative politician was convicted last month for his role in a conspiracy to illegally raise campaign funds from Libya. Sarkozy is the first former French leader to be jailed since Nazi collaborator Marshal Philippe Petain after the Second World War.

Before his arrival at the prison, he was seen leaving his home hand-in-hand with Ms Bruni. He was greeted by a crowd of supporters chanting his name and singing "La Marseillaise". Shortly after, he published a message on X, claiming he was 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.

"I am very proud of him, proud that he is going to prison with his head held high, and absolutely convinced of his innocence," his brother, Guillaume Sarkozy, told BFM TV. He was among relatives and supporters who cheered the former president on his way to jail.

Sebastien Cauwel, who heads up the high-profile La Sante prison in Paris where Sarkozy will be jailed, said the former president would be held in isolation. “He will be able to access the exercise yard on his own, twice a day, he will have access to an activities room while on his own and he will be alone when inside his prison cell,” Mr Cauwel told RTL Radio.