Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is serving time in prison with two security officers assigned to ensure his protection, authorities confirmed Wednesday. The arrangement, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said, is a continuation of the protection typically afforded to former heads of state due to potential threats, now maintained within the prison environment.
Sarkozy, who led France from 2007 to 2012, was incarcerated on Tuesday at La Santé prison in Paris. The 67-year-old was convicted last month in a high-profile criminal conspiracy case involving funding from Libya linked to his presidential campaign, receiving a five-year sentence. Sources report that his two bodyguards are stationed in a neighboring cell to ensure his safety while in custody.
The decision has drawn criticism from prison staff. Wilfried Fonck, head of the UFAP UNSa Justice union, described the presence of civilians inside the prison as unprecedented and insulting to professionals who manage inmate security. “They’re basically telling us we don’t know how to do our jobs,” Fonck told local media. “I’ve never seen anything like it in 25 years.”
Sarkozy is expected to remain in a nine-square-meter cell within the prison’s solitary confinement wing, where he will avoid contact with other inmates. Solitary confinement rules allow one daily walk in a small yard and three weekly visits. His legal team has requested his release pending appeal, though he is likely to stay behind bars for at least three to four weeks.
This marks a historic moment in European politics. Sarkozy is the first former leader of a European Union nation to be jailed, and the first French president to be incarcerated since Philippe Petain, the Nazi-collaborationist leader imprisoned after World War II.
With his bodyguards nearby and strict confinement conditions in place, Sarkozy’s detention reflects both the gravity of his conviction and the unprecedented nature of holding a former head of state in France.
