FLASH
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A solidarity committee was organized outside the former president's home. Sarkozy is serving a 5-year prison sentence, but will be released in a few weeks to house arrest...
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy entered the Parisian prison of La Santé, where he is expected to stay no more than a few weeks before being placed under house arrest with a bracelet.
This measure is a result of his advanced age (70 years old) and health condition incompatible with prison. However, this morning, accompanied by his wife Carla Bruni, he completed the bureaucratic procedures like any other prisoner.
The former president enters prison, presumed innocent, after appealing his conviction for criminal collaboration in the first-instance trial over Libyan funding he allegedly received for his 2007 election campaign.
"This morning they are not imprisoning a former President of the Republic, but an innocent man. This morning I feel deep pain for France, humiliated by the expression of a revenge that has taken hatred to an unprecedented level. I have no doubt, the truth will triumph. But the price to be paid will be great," he wrote in X.
His arrival at La Santé prison has created unrest in the prison, not only because of the media coverage of the event, but also because Sarkozy has recently met with prominent French political figures, including President Emmanuel Macron.
Although the President of the Republic has stated that he considers meeting with his predecessor to express his condolences normal, the rest of the prisoners may not find it appropriate.
For this reason, too, to ensure his safety, it has been decided that while in prison, he will be kept in solitary confinement. He will be allowed to keep a few books, a scarf no longer than one meter, and a few other personal items. However, he will have access to a small television. His cell will be approximately 9 square meters and he will be entitled to an hour's walk every day, but at different times from the other prisoners. Just like other personalities.
Since the early hours of the morning, a large group of people, called by his son, gathered outside Sarkozy's house at 8:30 a.m. to greet the president, to show him solidarity at such a difficult time.
There were friends, relatives, and even ordinary supporters of the former president, who repeatedly sang "La Marseillaise," the French national anthem. He left the house hand in hand with his wife and hugged several of those present before getting into the car. There were emotional moments, with many French flags waving before the car left the house for the prison.
A motorcade of police, journalists and ordinary supporters, who want to be there for Sarkozy until the end, followed him. They also gathered outside the prison, standing at a safe distance. There were cheers of encouragement as he passed through the gates.
Jean-Michel Darrois and Christophe Ingrain, Sarkozy's lawyers, declared after the former president's arrival that "this imprisonment is a shame; today is a tragic day for him and for France."
The request for his release has already been filed. There is no risk of repeating the facts, nor of destroying evidence, as there is no pressure on witnesses, the lawyers said.
They added that Sarkozy "wants to write, to describe his experience, the injustice he is a victim of. This ban reinforces his anger; he wants to prove his innocence."
The Court of Appeal has 60 days to decide.
The mayor of Terni, Stefano Bandecchi, also commented on the arrest, stating: "Sarkozy's annihilation is a dark chapter in French politics.
The small consolation is that Italy is not the only nation with a very dubious judiciary. Europe is committing suicide in the eyes of the rest of the world; we are now a people on the verge of extinction. When we were conquerors of the world, some things did not happen because we used our intelligence.” / Adapted from Il Giornale /
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