Former French president Sarkozy begins a 5-year prison sentence for campaign finance conspiracy

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived at a prison in Paris on Tuesday to begin serving a 5-year sentence for a criminal conspiracy to finance his 2007 election campaign with funds from Libya.

He is the first ex-leader of modern France to be imprisoned.

Sarkozy, hand-in-hand with his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, left home before getting into a car and traveling to the La Santé prison.

On his way to prison, Sarkozy said in a statement released on social media that “an innocent man” was being locked up.

He was convicted last month for criminal conspiracy in a scheme to finance his 2007 election campaign with funds from Libya.

Sarkozy contests both the conviction and a judge’s unusual decision to incarcerate him pending appeal. His journey from the presidential Elysée Palace to the notorious La Santé prison in Paris has captivated France.

Minutes before entering prison, Sarkozy and his wife walked slowly to join his children and grandchildren outside his home. He waved at a crowd of supporters gathered in the high-end Paris neighborhood where he lives, then got into his car.

Hundreds of supporters applauded and chanted “Nicolas, Nicolas” and sang the French anthem. Two French flags were hung on a nearby fence, with the inscriptions: “Courage Nicolas, return soon” and “true France with Nicolas.”

Sarkozy’s sons and daughter — Jean, Pierre, Louis and Giulia — and his grandchildren showed up at the gathering.

Parisian resident Michelle Perié, 67, said she came in support “because there is anger, injustice.”

“He’s not like any other defendants, he’s someone who holds state secrets, he’s someone who has always done his job with his head held high. We don’t understand,” she said.

Embattled centrist President Emmanuel Macron hosted the conservative Sarkozy at the presidential palace last week. ‘’I have always been very clear in my public statements about the independence of the judiciary in my role, but it was normal on a human level to receive one of my predecessors in this context,’’ Macron said Monday.

Sarkozy’s lawyers said the former president will be held in solitary confinement, where he will be kept away from all other prisoners for security reasons.

Sarkozy’s lawyer Christophe Ingrain said on BFM TV that incarceration “strengthens his determination, it strengthens his rage to prove that he is innocent.” Ingrain said Sarkozy is planning to write a book about his prison experience.

Jean-Michel Darrois, another of Sarkozy’s lawyers, said on Tuesday that the former president got himself “mentally prepared” to be held in solitary confinement, where he would be kept away from all other prisoners for security reasons.

“First, he packed a bag with a few sweaters because it’s cold in prison, and earplugs because it’s very noisy,” Darrois said on France Info news broadcaster. “Isolation like what he’s going to go through is painful, but he got himself prepared.”