Prison for president: how Sarkozy's sentence changes France's political landscape

On 21 October 2025, former French president Nicolas Sarkozy entered La Santé prison to begin a five-year sentence in the "Libya financing" case.

Judges used a mandat de dépôt à effet différé with exécution provisoire: the sentence starts now even though he has appealed.

La Santé is Paris’s last prison inside the city limit, renovated in 2019. Lawyers and families can reach it easily, and it’s often seen as the "good" or least bad option for custody because of access and modernised facilities.

The story of Sarkozy’s imprisonment though goes beyond these details.

A former head of state has received a real prison term for the first time in France’s history.

This has shattered the stereotype that the country’s leading politicians remain untouchable, that no matter how serious their crimes, the worst they might face is a restriction of liberty in the comfort of their own homes.

And this will have significant and long-term consequences for French politics as a whole.

A standard sentence, an unusual defendant

Nicolas Sarkozy, French president in 2007–2012, was convicted on 25 September 2025 for criminal conspiracy linked to a clandestine pact with Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya to help finance his 2007 campaign.

The court said the organised dealing with Libyan intermediaries-meetings, promises of advantages – amounted to a punishable criminal agreement, even if exact transactions were hard to trace into campaign accounts.

Co-defendant Claude Guéant and Brice Hortefeux were also sentenced.

Sarkozy denies wrongdoing and is appealing,

but immediate enforcement still applies, even for a former head of state.

French criminal procedure is clear about custody.

Detention can be maintained only if it is the only way to meet specific goals (protect evidence, avoid pressure on witnesses, ensure appearance, prevent re-offending, preserve public order) listed in Article 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

During appeals, decisions on release sit with the appeal court (Articles 148 and 148-1).

The 2019 reform introduced the deferred custody warrant, which lets courts set a future report date and, paired with exécution provisoire, neutralise the normal suspensive effect of an appeal.

In short: unusual for a former president, but firmly anchored in French law.

Emmanuel Macron called a debate on exécution provisoire "legitimate", urging respect for judicial independence without wading into the case.

On the right, media and party voices pushed an "injustice" narrative; echoing Marine le Pen’s recent ineligibility sanction. In Parliament, Les Républicains (LR) are proposing to refine the rules around provisional enforcement.

An opportunity and a challenge for the far-right

With Sarkozy gone, LR is weaker. That leaves room for the National Rally. The only thing slowing RN is the law on Le Pen. As a reminder, she is banned from running for five years. The ban applies now, even while she has already appealed (exécution provisoire).

She can only run if her appeal overturns the decision before the election, that’s very uncertain. Judges said the immediate ban is due to the seriousness of the offences and to protect public integrity. Therefore, RN must plan under this constraint.

This constraint shifts the spotlight to Jordan Bardella as RN’s de facto leading voice.

His task is not just to inherit Le Pen’s base; it is to add Sarkozy moderates without triggering the second-round "reflex" against the far right.

That means talking about cost-of-living and public order in a managerial register, while avoiding a direct assault on immigration and law enforcement that would alarm swing voters.

POLITICO’s reporting on the party’s identity debate captures the pivot: RN courting centre-right and business deputies that once sat with LR.

RN can present this as equal justice: a former president is in prison and an opposition leader is barred from the ballot under the rules.

No special treatment. With that line, RN can tap anti-elite anger without attacking the courts. If RN instead says "the judges are political," it hurts them.

The government is pushing a calm debate on the rules. That contrast helps the centre and makes moderate voters wary of RN in power.

Even Macron’s critics agree: if you want to revisit exécution provisoire, do it in Parliament, not on TV.

There’s also a messaging trap. Nicolas Sarkozy is now using the same "political decision" line Marine Le Pen used after her conviction. That gives RN shared grievance for a moment, but it erases differences: if everyone cries bias, no one looks ready to govern.

As former justice minister Éric Dupond-Moretti noted on air,

this is exactly how RN can lose second-round credibility.

This is RN’s best opening among moderate conservatives since 2017, but it comes with a rule: win the centre without warring on the courts. Le Pen’s ineligibility forces a Bardella-first campaign; that can be an asset if he looks prudent, institutional and serious on the economy. Treating judges as the enemy would feel good for a week and cost votes for a year. The path to 2027 runs through restraint.

* * * * *

The next presidential election in France is set to be held in two years, in 2027. RN has its best chance with moderate conservatives in years.

But that chance comes with one hard limit: France’s institutions. If RN wants the center, it must respect the courts and the rules.

Any attack on judges may thrill the base for a few days and then lose the voters RN needs to win a second round.

Le Pen’s legal ban means this is a Bardella-led campaign. That only helps RN if he looks steady, competent and serious on the economy, and if he avoids turning justice into a target.

The moment RN slides into grievance and conspiracy, it confirms the doubts of moderate, pro-EU voters and of partners who expect France to defend the rule of law.

Charlotte Guillou-Clerc,

Journalist (France)