PARIS — Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been ordered to begin serving his prison sentence on October 21, according to sources close to the case cited by Agence France-Presse (AFP). The 70-year-old conservative leader will be incarcerated at Paris’s La Santé prison, where he was informed of his detention conditions by France’s financial prosecutor’s office on Monday.
Sarkozy was found guilty late last month of participating in a criminal conspiracy related to alleged illegal campaign financing from Libya. The Paris criminal court ordered the immediate enforcement of his sentence — meaning he must begin serving time despite filing an appeal. Sarkozy has vehemently denied all wrongdoing.
Under French law, however, prisoners aged 70 or older may apply for conditional release shortly after entering custody, allowing them to serve their sentence under restricted conditions outside prison walls.
The so-called “Libya affair” centers on allegations that Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential campaign received millions in illicit funds from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Although the court said there was no direct proof that such money changed hands, it concluded that Sarkozy and his close associates attempted to solicit Libyan financial support for the campaign.
The case marks another dramatic chapter in the downfall of France’s once-powerful leader, whose political legacy continues to be shadowed by corruption scandals.
