Doomed Tuesday and a 9-Square-Meter Cell Await Sarkozy
According to the English section of webangah News agency, citing Mehr News Agency and France 24, nicolas Sarkozy, former president of France, who was found guilty in the case involving financial support from Libya for his 2007 presidential campaign, will start serving his prison sentence on Tuesday. Sarkozy will be the first former leader of an EU member state to spend time behind bars.
Sarkozy, a right-wing president who served from 2007 to 2012, was convicted in late September of criminal conspiracy related to illegally receiving funding from Muammar Gaddafi’s regime to finance his 2007 election campaign. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
The ruling concerns allegations that Sarkozy took millions of euros unlawfully from Gaddafi. According to French prosecutors, Sarkozy promised Gaddafi that he would help improve Libya’s image among Western countries in exchange for financial backing.
The former president has appealed the verdict and called it “unjust.” He is expected to serve his sentence at La Santé prison in Paris.
Sarkozy is the first imprisoned French leader as Philippe Pétain, head of Vichy France during World War II who received a life sentence for collaborating with Nazis and betraying the country.
AFP reports that a prison official said Sarkozy will likely be held alone in a nine-square-meter cell during his incarceration.
