Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy started a five-year prison sentence at Paris's ancient La Santé prison on October 21st, 2025, as the first post-Second World War French president to be imprisoned. He was found guilty in a criminal conspiracy case regarding illegally funding his 2007 presidential campaign from funds provided from Muammar Gaddafi's Libyan dictatorship. Even though he was cleared of charges relating to active corruption and private abuse of resources, Sarkozy was still convicted of criminal association and sentenced to serve his whole sentence despite his current appeal (([Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/defiant-former-french-president-sarkozy-begin-five-year-prison-term-2025-10-20/?utm_source=.)) The choice to commence executing the sentence while still within the appeal process drew criticism and divided popular opinion within France. Some quarters of society—political associates as well as those on the far right—criticized the impartiality of the courts of law, claiming that it was swayed by political inclinations. On the other hand, a significant majority of the population—about 60%—perceive the sentence as fair, which is a testament to France's strict approach to white-collar offenses ([The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/21/nicolas-sarkozy-enters-prison-paris-france?utm_source=chatgpt.com)). During his political life, Sarkozy was faced with other convictions as well. In 2021, he was sentenced to one year in jail, with six months suspended, for hiding campaign costs in 2012's election, in a case known as "Bygmalion." In 2024 again, he was unsuccessful in an appeal in the wiretapping case, for which he was sentenced to one year under house arrest with electronic tag. The earlier convictions had already tainted his popularity; nevertheless, the present imprisonment is a significant turning point both in his political life as well as within the history of French politics ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Sarkozy?utm_source=chatgpt.com)). Sarkozy’s imprisonment occurs during a period characterized by increasing political polarization in France, marked by the ascent of the far-right and challenges to the independence of the judiciary. His incarceration has been met with public demonstrations of support, which include the attendance of his wife, Carla Bruni, and their children, who condemn what they perceive as an unjust and politically motivated judicial process. Sarkozy himself asserts his innocence and pledges to persist in his legal battle even while incarcerated. The jailing of a former president of France is an unprecedented event that is a sign of a seismic shift in the country's position on political accountability and justice. This dramatic case gives rise to fundamental questions on the ground on which the law is applied, judicial autonomy, as well as interrelationships between politics and justice in France. Will such events mark the beginning of a new era where political leaders are held increasingly accountable for their actions, or become a turning point in a system that again and again serves to shield people who are powerful from accountability?