Sarkozy starts five-year prison term over Libyan funding case

Nicolas Sarkozy, France's former president, entered La Santé prison in Paris on Tuesday to begin a five year sentence after a Paris court convicted him of criminal conspiracy over an alleged scheme to secure Libyan funding for his 2007 presidential campaign. The 70 year old, who led France from 2007 to 2012, was ordered to start serving his sentence immediately despite an appeal, a decision the presiding judge said reflected the exceptional gravity of the offence.

Prison officials said Sarkozy is likely to be held in solitary confinement for security reasons in a cell of roughly nine square metres with one daily period outside in a small yard. The arrangement was described as intended to prevent unauthorised contact or photographs. It is unclear how long he will remain behind bars: his lawyers plan to request release or conversion to home detention with electronic monitoring, and an appeals court has two months to rule. The court could keep him detained if it judges that release would risk interference with evidence or witnesses.

Sarkozy has consistently denied wrongdoing. As he left his Paris home with his wife, he reiterated on social media that he was innocent, writing that...