Sarkozy behind bars: how a powerful elite seeks to portray the ex-president as a victim

At just before 9.40am on October 21st Nicolas Sarkozy entered the gates of La Santé prison in Paris to begin the five-year jail term he was given after being found guilty of criminal conspiracy in the Libyan election funding scandal, a first for a former French president. But current president Emmanuel Macron received Sarkozy at the Élysée while justice minister Gérald Darmanin has said he will visit him in prison.

And French business groups Accor and Lagardère groups have rallied to his support, while television channels have largely glossed over the seriousness of the offences. As Fabrice Arfi argues in this op-ed article, the jailing of Nicolas Sarkozy lays bare, as never before, the panic of a small but powerful elite that desires nothing less than the return of pre-French Revolution privilege.

👉‍ https://www.mediapart.fr/en/journal/france/211025/sarkozy-behind-bars-how-powerful-elite-seeks-portray-ex-president-victim?at_format=link&at_account=mediapart&at_campaign=mastodon&at_medium=custom7

Nicolas Sarkozy jailed for criminal conspiracy over Libyan election funding scandal

In an historic verdict, the former French president Nicolas #Sarkozy has been given a five-year jail term after being found guilty of criminal conspiracy over a plan to accept money from Muammar Gaddafi's Libyan regime to fund his 2007 election campaign. Sarkozy, 70, was also fined 100,000 euros and banned from public office for five years.

The court made clear that the former head of state will have to serve time behind bars even if he appeals. He was meanwhile acquitted of charges of corruption, the receipt of the proceeds of the misappropriation of public funds, and illegal campaign financing. Sarkozy's conviction follows ten years of judge-led investigations into the affair, and investigations by Mediapart which go back to 2011. 👇‍

https://www.mediapart.fr/en/journal/france/250925/nicolas-sarkozy-jailed-criminal-conspiracy-over-libyan-election-funding-scandal

With Donald Trump’s re-election to the White House, billionaire Elon Musk’s social media platform X, the former Twitter, has become transformed into a weapon of mass disinformation. Mediapart refuses to serve the cause of the enemies of journalism and the public general interest, explains publishing editor @CarineFouteau 👇 https://www.mediapart.fr/en/journal/france/171224/mediapart-quits-musks-x-stand-against-disinformation

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