Former French President Nicholas Sarkozy was released from Paris’ Prison de la Santé on 10 November after a Parisian court ruled he could return to his home in the 16th arrondissement while waiting for appeal—proving that the only thing shorter than the former President is his time served behind bars.
Sarkozy, who was president of France from 2007 to 2012, was convicted by the Tribunal de Paris this September of criminal association and conspiracy with former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who donated over €50m to fund his 2007 Presidential campaign. In exchange, Sarkozy was to help better Gaddafi’s image in the eyes of Western allies. The 70 year old was sentenced to five years in prison on top of paying a €100,000 fine. A punishment I can’t find more fitting and humiliating for the man who based a big part of his campaign on the promise to “clean up” Parisian suburbs of its racailles, (French word loosely translating to thugs) and his ‘tough-on-crime’ rhetoric as President.
Of course, the former president maintains his innocence and that his sentencing is political and the result of a conspiracy of judges. Still, he stated to reporters upon exiting the tribunal : “If they absolutely want me to sleep in jail, I will sleep in jail, but with my head held high.” His promise wasn’t hard to keep, considering his less than 3 week stay was so short he barely had time to unpack and could have been using his suitcase to prop his head up high.
In all seriousness, the question of Sarkozy’s albeit temporary release (if he wins his appeal) raises questions as to whether or not we can hold our leaders and political figures to account, or if they are as above the judicial system as they would like to believe. After all, the current sitting President of the United States is a convicted felon and was still allowed to run for office and elected, and the leader of France’s Rassemblement National far-right party, Marine Le Pen also awaits appeal in her case which found her guilty of embezzling European Union funds.
Nicholas Sarkozy wanted to toughen the criminal justice system in order to rid France of its “thugs” and criminals, but oddly enough, once the justice system sentenced him to share a cell with them, there’s no one to answer the door anymore. In the meantime, as he awaits the verdict of his appeal, I hope Sarkozy enjoys his morning jogs in the 16th arrondissement, and if his appeal is denied and he must go back to prison, that La Santé doesn’t allow him to renew his free trial.
“Nicolas Sarkozy – Meeting in Toulouse for the 2007 French presidential election 0327 2007-04-12” by Guillaume Paumier is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
Related
Sarkozy’s Early Release is a Symptom of a Larger Problem
Former French President Nicholas Sarkozy was released from Paris’ Prison de la Santé on 10 November after a Parisian court ruled he could return to his home in the 16th arrondissement while waiting for appeal—proving that the only thing shorter than the former President is his time served behind bars.
Sarkozy, who was president of France from 2007 to 2012, was convicted by the Tribunal de Paris this September of criminal association and conspiracy with former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who donated over €50m to fund his 2007 Presidential campaign. In exchange, Sarkozy was to help better Gaddafi’s image in the eyes of Western allies. The 70 year old was sentenced to five years in prison on top of paying a €100,000 fine. A punishment I can’t find more fitting and humiliating for the man who based a big part of his campaign on the promise to “clean up” Parisian suburbs of its racailles, (French word loosely translating to thugs) and his ‘tough-on-crime’ rhetoric as President.
Of course, the former president maintains his innocence and that his sentencing is political and the result of a conspiracy of judges. Still, he stated to reporters upon exiting the tribunal : “If they absolutely want me to sleep in jail, I will sleep in jail, but with my head held high.” His promise wasn’t hard to keep, considering his less than 3 week stay was so short he barely had time to unpack and could have been using his suitcase to prop his head up high.
In all seriousness, the question of Sarkozy’s albeit temporary release (if he wins his appeal) raises questions as to whether or not we can hold our leaders and political figures to account, or if they are as above the judicial system as they would like to believe. After all, the current sitting President of the United States is a convicted felon and was still allowed to run for office and elected, and the leader of France’s Rassemblement National far-right party, Marine Le Pen also awaits appeal in her case which found her guilty of embezzling European Union funds.
Nicholas Sarkozy wanted to toughen the criminal justice system in order to rid France of its “thugs” and criminals, but oddly enough, once the justice system sentenced him to share a cell with them, there’s no one to answer the door anymore. In the meantime, as he awaits the verdict of his appeal, I hope Sarkozy enjoys his morning jogs in the 16th arrondissement, and if his appeal is denied and he must go back to prison, that La Santé doesn’t allow him to renew his free trial.
“Nicolas Sarkozy – Meeting in Toulouse for the 2007 French presidential election 0327 2007-04-12” by Guillaume Paumier is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
Share this:
Like this:
Related