Sarkozy will be the first French postwar head of state – and the first former leader of a European Union country – to serve time behind bars.
Extra security measures are expected to protect him, with the former president likely to be placed either in a unit for vulnerable inmates or in solitary confinement.
Sarkozy, who led France from 2007 to 2012, was found guilty in late September of criminal conspiracy. Judges ruled that he and his aides sought campaign funds from late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi for his successful 2007 presidential bid.
“The offences were of exceptional gravity,” said presiding judge Nathalie Gavarino in the ruling.
Prosecutors said Sarkozy’s team struck a secret deal with Gaddafi in 2005 to secure illegal financing. Investigators believe that in return, Gaddafi was promised help in restoring his international image after Libya was accused of involvement in deadly plane bombings over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 and over Niger in 1989.
The court found Sarkozy guilty of criminal conspiracy but cleared him of other charges, including embezzling Libyan public funds, passive corruption and illicit campaign financing.
Sarkozy has called the verdict “a scandal” and insists he never took money from Gaddafi’s regime.
