Nicolas Sarkozy, a former French president, has been sentenced to five years in jail for criminal conspiracy over attempts to raise campaign funds from Libya, a spectacular downfall for the conservative who led France from 2007 to 2012.
The sentence, which will soon make Sarkozy the first post-war president of France to be imprisoned, was harsher than many expected and stunned allies and foes alike.
Sarkozy was found guilty of criminal conspiracy over efforts by close aides to procure funds for his 2007 presidential bid from Libya during the rule of late dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
He was acquitted by the Paris court of all other charges, including corruption and receiving illegal campaign financing.
The prison sentence is enforceable immediately, with the judge saying Sarkozy would have just a short period to put his affairs in order before prosecutors call on him to head to jail.
That must happen within a month. French media said Sarkozy would be summoned on October 13 to be told when he would be jailed.
Authorities did not disclose where he would be jailed, though people familiar with the French judicial system say it could be in the capital’s storied La Sante prison, which in the past has housed leftist militant Carlos the Jackal and former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega.
