Former French president Sarkozy heads to jail
Following his conviction in a trial over illegal campaign financing, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy begins his five-year prison sentence in the Santé prison in Paris today. The 70-year-old has lodged an appeal, and because of his age he has the option of applying for conditional release from the nine-square-metre cell where he will be in solitary confinement. The controversy over the verdict continues in the national press.
The real loser is the justice system
For Le Figaro, the conviction is the result of arbitrariness and a desire for ideological revenge:
“Even his opponents acknowledge that Nicolas Sarkozy has displayed a combination of dignity, eloquence and novellesque temperament in this crisis. ... As he himself has said: it is not his freedom that is at stake, but his innocence. ... This affair is now bigger than him - bigger than the judges who handed down the verdict. It has exposed the judiciary to the suspicion of arbitrariness, ideological revenge and a desire for power: have the scales of justice been thrown off balance? When Nicolas Sarkozy enters prison he will temporarily lose his freedom, but the judiciary will lose its credibility for a long time to come.”
A sign of independence
Not the verdict but Sarkozy's illegal actions should be the focus of attention, Libération stresses:
“The aim of all the fuss is of course to divert our attention from the fact that a former president of France has been sentenced to five years in prison for being part of a criminal organisation. A conviction that gives no cause for celebration. But also a conviction that there is no reason not to recognise. Because it was handed down by an independent judiciary that was not swayed by all the clamour and fury over the 'lèse majesté' offence.”