Paris - Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
The next few days will witness an unprecedented event in France, as a prison sentence will be carried out against former French President Nicolas Sarkozy after a Paris court convicted him of criminal conspiracy. He was convicted of allowing one of his closest aides to communicate with the regime of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to obtain illegal funding for his 2007 presidential campaign.
The European news network Euronews in Brussels reported yesterday evening, "In a precedent that is unprecedented in the history of the Fifth Republic, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was sentenced to five years in prison, is scheduled to be imprisoned in the Santé prison in Paris on October 21, according to what Agence France-Presse reported on Monday, citing sources familiar with the case.
Sarkozy went yesterday to the office of the National Financial Prosecutor to learn about the details of the implementation of his prison sentence.
This decision follows his conviction on September 25 on criminal conspiracy charges, stemming from allegations related to Libyan financing of his presidential campaign in 2007. 2007.
The Paris Criminal Court concluded that Sarkozy allowed his associates to request funds from the Libyan authorities affiliated with the late leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Sarkozy, who served as President of the French Republic from 2007 to 2012, appealed his sentence immediately after it was issued.
However, his sentence cannot be suspended pending an appeal, and therefore Sarkozy will not be able to avoid imprisonment.
His lawyers will be able to apply to the appeal court for his release from the first day of his detention, with the court to decide on the request within a maximum period of two months. If the request is rejected, Sarkozy will be able to submit a new request later.
Sarkozy is likely to be imprisoned in a special section of the Santé prison designated for vulnerable people, given his age and the sensitivity of his public situation.
The decision to imprison Sarkozy has drawn sharp criticism from the right and far right, while 61% of respondents in a poll conducted by Elabe in late September believed that His prison sentence was deemed "fair," while 38% deemed it "unfair."
Sarkozy has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, portraying himself as the target of a political vendetta orchestrated by individuals linked to the Gaddafi government.
He has suggested that the charges were related to his support for the overthrow of the Libyan leader in 2011, during the Arab Spring uprisings that led to Gaddafi's downfall and death.