French President Emmanuel Macron said he had invited his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy to the Elysée Palace before the fallen star of French conservativism becomes the first former head of state in modern history to step into a prison cell.
Sarkozy was sentenced to five years in prison last month for allegedly having permitted his “close collaborators” and “unofficial intermediaries” to attempt to obtain financial backing from Moammar Gadhafi’s regime in Libya in exchange for economic and diplomatic favors as he prepared for his first presidential campaign ahead of 2007.
Sarkozy indicated over the weekend he would begin serving his sentence Tuesday.
Macron said the visit was not meant to infringe on the independence of France’s judiciary.
“It was normal, on a personal level, for me to host one of my predecessors in this context,” Macron told reporters during a trip to Slovenia.
Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin, who served as Sarkozy’s spokesperson in 2014 and with whom he has remained close, said he had met with Sarkozy since the guilty verdict and would also visit him in prison out of “concern for his security.”
Sarkozy said in an interview with Sunday paper La Tribune Dimanche that he will serve his sentence in the Prison de la Santé, the only prison located within the Paris’ city limits.
He will become the first French head of state to step behind bars since Nazi collaborator Philippe Pétain, who signed the French armistice with Germany in 1940. Pétain’s legacy is now firmly associated with collaboration and one of the darkest chapters in French history.
It’s unclear how long Sarkozy will remain incarcerated. Once behind bars, he will be able to request a sentence adjustment, which could allow him to serve his sentence differently, for example at home with an electronic bracelet.
