Nicolas Sarkozy spends first ‘difficult’ night in Paris prison cell following conviction for Gaddafi funding case

Former French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, spent his first night on Tuesday, 21 October, in La Santé prison in Paris. 

It is recalled that he was sentenced to five years in prison for the case involving the financing of his 2007 presidential campaign by the then-Gaddafi regime in Libya.

Sarkozy passed through the prison gates yesterday morning to begin serving his sentence as the first former president of the French Republic in the country’s modern history to be incarcerated.

Two Security Guards in a Neighbouring Cell for Sarkozy’s Protection

Two security officers accompanied Sarkozy to La Santé prison and were placed in an adjacent cell, the French news agency reports, citing three sources familiar with the case. “There is no question of taking the slightest risk regarding the security of a former president,” one of the three sources explained to AFP, without giving further details.

Sarkozy’s entourage made no comment: “The threat assessment falls under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior. Regarding the particularly sensitive matter of the security of the former President of the Republic, you understand that nothing more can be said,” they noted.

When asked about this by the LCI network, Sarkozy’s lawyer, Jean-Michel Darrois, said he “had never seen anything similar” in his career. Without confirming the presence of police officers in the cell next to the former president, Darrois noted that such a measure means the Ministry of the Interior and the prison administration deemed it “necessary to supplement his protection.”

“The prison administration can never guarantee zero risk and they could not take that risk with Nicolas Sarkozy,” he added.

Given the risks to his safety in the prison environment, Nicolas Sarkozy has also been placed in isolation. He is therefore alone in his cell and is accompanied by a guard every time he goes out, particularly to the visiting room. This regime will ensure both “Mr Sarkozy’s safety and order in the institution,” explained the Director of the Prison Administration, Sébastien Cauwel, to RTL on Tuesday. “It is anything but privileged treatment,” insisted the former head of state’s lawyer, Christophe Ingrain, outside the doors of the Santé building where he had just dropped off his client.

“Prison is no Club Méditerranée,” Says Sarkozy’s Lawyer

Sarkozy’s other counsel, Jean-Michel Darrois, praised the courage of his client, whom he described as a “fighter.” “Prison is no Club Méditerranée,” he said, stating that Sarkozy is mostly busy writing a new book.

Darrois described the first day for Sarkozy to the BFMTV network as “difficult,” but one he nevertheless managed to “get through.” “He trained today, he started writing his book (…) he had a meeting with [his wife] Carla Bruni. If he is worried about anything, it’s his family,” he explained.

Deeply affected by Sarkozy’s ordeal, the lawyer did not hide his emotion: “It left me speechless, it saddened me. But I know he will endure and emerge from there a fighter,” he confirmed.

Sarkozy in a 9 sq. m. Cell with Noisy and Shouting Inmates

According to a report in the newspaper Le Parisien, all inmates, including Sarkozy, are taken to their cells after a body search and the taking of fingerprints and photographs. A “confinement” procedure is applied to vulnerable individuals, designed to prevent any interaction with other inmates.

New arrivals are greeted with a package containing sheets, underwear, toilet paper, plates, and cutlery, while they undergo a psychological assessment process for the first few days: at night, at regular intervals, a guard turns on the light and checks through the peephole, according to an officer.

“He is in a 9 sq. m. cell, there is constant noise,” Jean-Michel Darrois commented late yesterday afternoon, after his first meeting with Nicolas Sarkozy in the visiting room, assuring that his client has not received any privileged treatment: “All the inmates make noise, they shout, they bang on the walls (…) In principle, given the position he held, he should have a different status. He did not ask for it, he does not have it.”

The cell is equipped with a bed and a desk bolted to the floor, a plastic chair, shelves, a shower and toilet, a hotplate, a refrigerator, and a television (for a fee) and a wooden picture frame, according to a former inmate. Sarkozy will be able to use a wall-mounted telephone (for a fee) to call pre-registered numbers. His conversations may be recorded, but he will not be able to receive calls.

Despite the emotion caused by the former president’s incarceration, his legal team remains optimistic. Darrois is already anticipating Sarkozy’s early release after the relevant application was filed yesterday. Normally, this type of procedure takes place within two months, but the lawyer hopes that it can be “heard within the month.”

“The request must be heard, and that depends on how busy the court of appeal is. And when it is heard, we will submit requests, the prosecutor will submit proposals, and then the court of appeal will rule quickly,” he stated.