France’s ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy became the first former head of an EU state to be jailed Tuesday, proclaiming his innocence as he entered a Paris prison.
France’s right-wing leader from 2007 to 2012 was found guilty last month of seeking to acquire funding from Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya for the campaign that saw him elected.
The 70-year-old – who has appealed the verdict – left his home, and after a short drive flanked by police on motorbikes, entered the La Sante prison in the French capital.
“Welcome Sarkozy!”, “Sarkozy’s here,” convicts shouted from their cells.
Carla Bruni blows a kiss as her husband heads to prison. Photo: AP
In a defiant message posted on social media as he was being transferred, Sarkozy denied any wrongdoing.
“It is not a former president of the republic being jailed this morning, but an innocent man,” he said on X.