Why ex-president Sarkozy is on his way to prison in France

Sarkozy was found guilty of criminal conspiracy for allowing aides to seek funds in Libya for his 2007 presidential bid. At the time, Libya was led by dictator Muammar Gaddafi and Sarkozy managed to win the elections in France.

He always declared himself innocent, but was sentenced to five years in prison on September 25. Even though he appealed the sentence, he was kept in prison, as the court considered the “exceptional seriousness of the facts”, committed by a politician who aspired to the highest role in the Republic.

Court found that financial flows departed from Libya, but that there is no evidence that they reached Sarkozy’s campaign accounts. However, according to French law, preparation is enough to characterize the crime of criminal association, even if the objective has not been achieved.

The seven defendants convicted in the Libya case appealed. A new trial is scheduled for March 2026.

The former president is being investigated for other cases and used an electronic ankle bracelet after being convicted of another crime. Between February and May of this year, he served time in the case known as “eavesdropping”, in which he was accused of corrupting a magistrate to obtain information about judicial investigations involving him.

Sarkozy was given the option of not being arrested immediately after the trial so he could “organize his professional commitments”. The same benefit was not given to the other two arrested for the crime, intermediary Alexandre Djouhri and banker Wahib Nacer.