Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy insisted he was “innocent” as he was escorted to prison on Tuesday following his conviction over a scheme to acquire Libyan funding for his presidential run in 2007.
Mr Sarkozy, 70, becomes the first former head of an EU country to serve time behind bars. His lawyers filed an immediate motion for his release as he denounced last month's verdict as an “injustice”. He is unlikely to serve the full five-year sentence.
“It is not a former president of the republic being jailed this morning, but an innocent man,” he said on X. “I have no doubt. The truth will prevail.”
He walked out of his home hand-in-hand with his singer wife, Carla Bruni, and joined his children and grandchildren outside.
“Nicolas, Nicolas! Free Nicolas,” shouted a crowd who gathered in the road outside to show their support, some holding up framed portraits of him. They sang the French national anthem, as neighbours looked on from their balconies.
He left in a car escorted by police on motorcycles for La Sante prison in Paris, where he is being held.
Criminal conspiracy
Mr Sarkozy, France's right-wing leader from 2007 to 2012, was sentenced to five years in jail in September for criminal conspiracy over a plan for late Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar Qaddafi to fund his electoral campaign.
Presiding judge Nathalie Gavarino said during sentencing that the offences were of “exceptional gravity”, and therefore ordered Mr Sarkozy to be jailed even if he filed an appeal.
Under the ruling, the 70-year-old was only be able to file a request for release to the appeals court once he was behind bars. Judges have up to two months to process it.
Prosecutors said his aides, acting in Mr Sarkozy's name, struck a deal with Qaddafi in 2005 to illegally fund his victorious presidential election bid two years later.
Investigators believe that in return, Qaddafi was promised help to restore his international image after Tripoli was blamed for the 1988 bombing of a passenger jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, and another over Niger in 1989, killing hundreds of passengers.
But the court's ruling did not follow the prosecutors' conclusion that Mr Sarkozy received or used the funds for his campaign.
It acquitted him on charges of embezzling Libyan public funds, passive corruption and illicit financing of an electoral campaign.
Solitary
He has told Le Figaro newspaper that he will be taking a biography of Jesus and a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo, a novel about an innocent man who is jailed but escapes to take revenge. He said he intended to take 10 family photos, which he is allowed to bring.
He is likely to be held in a nine square metre cell in the prison's solitary confinement wing to avoid contact with other prisoners or them taking pictures of him.
In solitary confinement, prisoners are allowed out of their cells for one walk a day, alone, in a small yard. Mr Sarkozy will also be allowed visits three times a week.
His lawyer, Christophe Ingrain, said on BFM TV that incarceration “strengthens his determination, it strengthens his rage to prove that he is innocent”.
Mr Sarkozy is planning to write a book about his prison experience, he said.
Convictions
Mr Sarkozy captured the electorate’s imagination and won the presidency in 2007 by bringing in a new political language that projected a toughness on law and order and immigration. He was soon criticised for celebrating his presidential victory with CEOs and entertainment stars and escaping for a few days on a billionaire's yacht.
Five years later, a deeply unpopular Mr Sarkozy lost his re-election bit against a backdrop of record public debt and growing unemployment.
He has faced a flurry of legal woes since losing re-election in 2012. He has been convicted in two separate trials. In one, he served a graft sentence with an electronic ankle tag, which was removed after several months in May. He was stripped of France's highest distinction, his Legion of Honour, following the graft conviction.
His jailing comes at a time of extended political turmoil in France ever since President Emmanuel Macron called snap elections last year that led to a deeply divided parliament. Four different governments have come and gone since, with the latest led by Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu on fragile ground despite surviving no-confidence votes last week.
Mr Sarkozy still enjoys support on the French right and has on occasion had private meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Mr Macron welcomed Mr Sarkozy to the Elysee Palace on Friday, a government source said, a decision he defended on Monday. “It was normal, on a human level, for me to receive one of my predecessors in this context,” Mr Macron said.
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
ELECTION%20RESULTS
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Abaya trends
The utilitarian robe held dear by Arab women is undergoing a change that reveals it as an elegant and graceful garment available in a range of colours and fabrics, while retaining its traditional appeal.
more from Janine di Giovanni
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
EA Sports FC 25
Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
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Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
ICC Intercontinental Cup
UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (captain), Chirag Suri, Shaiman Anwar, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Saqlain Haider, Ahmed Raza, Mohammed Naveed, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Boota, Amir Hayat, Ashfaq Ahmed
Fixtures Nov 29-Dec 2
UAE v Afghanistan, Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Hong Kong v Papua New Guinea, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Ireland v Scotland, Dubai International Stadium
Namibia v Netherlands, ICC Academy, Dubai
Bangladesh tour of Pakistan
January 24 – First T20, Lahore
January 25 – Second T20, Lahore
January 27 – Third T20, Lahore
February 7-11 – First Test, Rawalpindi
April 3 – One-off ODI, Karachi
April 5-9 – Second Test, Karachi
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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57%20Seconds
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed
Based: Muscat
Launch year: 2018
Number of employees: 40
Sector: Online food delivery
Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
if you go
The flights
Air Astana flies direct from Dubai to Almaty from Dh2,440 per person return, and to Astana (via Almaty) from Dh2,930 return, both including taxes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton Almaty cost from Dh1,944 per night including taxes; and in Astana the new Ritz-Carlton Astana (www.marriott) costs from Dh1,325; alternatively, the new St Regis Astana costs from Dh1,458 per night including taxes.
When to visit
March-May and September-November
Visas
Citizens of many countries, including the UAE do not need a visa to enter Kazakhstan for up to 30 days. Contact the nearest Kazakhstan embassy or consulate.
The specs
Engine: Two permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors
Transmission: two-speed
Power: 671hp
Torque: 849Nm
Range: 456km
Price: from Dh437,900
On sale: now
Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
What is tokenisation?
Tokenisation refers to the issuance of a blockchain token, which represents a virtually tradable real, tangible asset. A tokenised asset is easily transferable, offers good liquidity, returns and is easily traded on the secondary markets.
Dunki
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
