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Transcript
00:01Nicolas Sarkozy's lawyers left his home on Thursday afternoon.
00:04The former French president was allowed to return there before going to prison.
00:08So what are the next steps?
00:10On October the 13th, Sarkozy will be summoned by the National Financial Prosecutor's Office
00:15to find out the date he will be sent to prison.
00:18This date will be within the next four months, meaning he will spend his first night in prison
00:22no later than the 13th of February.
00:25In the meantime, the former president remains free, and the court does not consider him
00:29a flight risk.
00:30Can Sarkozy still avoid prison?
00:32The answer is no.
00:34The court's ruling means he will spend time in jail, even if he appeals, which Sarkozy insists
00:38he plans on doing.
00:40Due to his status as a former head of state, Sarkozy is expected to be held in a dedicated
00:45wing such as the one at La Santé prison in Paris.
00:48That's what's at stake.
00:51It's about ensuring that the person, because of the notoriety and what they represent, does
00:55not suffer excessive violence, bullying or things like that from the other inmates around
01:00them.
01:01Sarkozy will have a cell identical to those in the rest of the prison, with the same size
01:07and layout.
01:08He will be entitled to the same number of visits and phone calls as other inmates, but will
01:12not share his cell.
01:15So what are the other avenues open to him?
01:17Sarkozy will be able to request to be released by arguing that he has what are known as guarantees
01:22of representation.
01:24This is when you have sufficiently strong ties that can convince the magistrates that you
01:28will not flee.
01:29These include, for example, a family life and a well-established professional life.
01:33Sarkozy will be the first French post-war leader to serve prison time.
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