00:00He's the first former president of modern France to be sentenced to time behind bars.
00:05If they really want me to sleep in prison, I'll sleep in prison, but with my head held high.
00:11But it's the decision to incarcerate the 70-year-old, despite his intention to appeal, that took many by surprise.
00:17This is a completely unprecedented decision, and it feels a bit like the courts want to set an example,
00:24particularly by ordering provisional enforcement, which means that the appeal doesn't suspend Nicolas Sarkozy's detention and imprisonment.
00:32This so-called execution provisoire is a mechanism specific to French law.
00:38It means that while Sarkozy is presumed innocent while his appeal is pending, he'll still begin serving time in prison.
00:44Judges justified the decision, citing the political seriousness of the case,
00:48but supporters of Sarkozy have called it disproportionate, even dangerous.
00:52The same mechanism was applied to national rally leader Marine Le Pen when she was sentenced to an immediate ban on running for office back in March,
01:00after being found guilty of embezzling European funds, a decision she slammed as political.
01:06It's become clear to me that a number of magistrates have got sort of scorecards where they're trying to pin down as many politicians as possible.
01:15It's a break with the fundamental principle of our law, starting with the most important one, the presumption of innocence.
01:22Sarkozy has been asked to appear before the prosecutor's office on the 13th of October to find out the date of his incarceration.
Comments