Sarkozy hits rock bottom

Nicolas Sarkozy has become the first former French head of state to be sent to prison since Philippe Pétain in 1945, and the first former European leader. An impressive record for Sarkozy, who was imprisoned on 21 October at the La Santé prison in Paris. The French ex-president was convicted on 25 September for criminal conspiracy in connection with the illegal financing of his 2007 presidential campaign, and is set to serve a five-year prison sentence.

Sarkozy, who has already appealed his imprisonment, has also been banned from standing for election for five years, and has been fined 100,000 euro. Other close associates have also been handed various prison sentences and fines.

It took the prosecution ten years of investigation, as well as a trial that lasted many months, to secure Sarkozy's conviction in the “Libyan case.” He stood accused of a number of offences linked to the secret financing of his 2007 presidential campaign by Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. While the ruling is historic in scope, this is not the first time that Sarkozy has been in trouble with the law. He has already been convicted twice in the past, in the Bismuth case – for corruption and influence peddling – and the Bygmalion case, for illegal financing of his 2012 election campaign.