Sarkozy’s five-year prison term starts with fingerprints and a mug shot

A motorcade of police escorted the 70-year-old from his home in the tony 16th arrondissement to the gates of Paris-La Santé prison in the heart of the French capital. There, guards took him into custody, leading him down to a basement office where he underwent a search and had his fingerprints taken. He then received an inmate number and had his mug shot taken before guards brought him to his cell in the isolation ward.

The incarceration of Sarkozy, a hero for many French conservatives, heightens tensions in a politically polarized nation that is still processing the implications of a former president living behind bars. The prison sentence has also fueled public debate over the limits of judicial power, particularly when it comes to holding another branch of government accountable.

Sarkozy was convicted in late September of conspiring to seek campaign funds from the regime of Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi. Judges then stunned the nation by ordering Sarkozy to swiftly start serving his sentence, dispensing with the usual practice of waiting until a white-collar convict exhausts the appeals process.

“It is a dark day for him, for France, and for our institutions, because this imprisonment is a disgrace," said Jean-Michel Darrois, one of Sarkozy’s lawyers, on Tuesday. His lawyers have appealed the ruling and filed a request for bail.

Sarkozy’s final moments of freedom began as he emerged from his home, holding hands with his wife, singer and ex-supermodel Carla Bruni. Clad in a blue blazer, black sweater and neck tie, Sarkozy walked down a cobblestone pathway where he was greeted by his children and a crowd of applauding supporters.

More than a decade has passed since Sarkozy left office in 2012, but he remains a lion of conservative politics in France. His endorsement carries considerable political weight for up-and-coming politicians as well as members of the establishment.

Last week, President Emmanuel Macron met with Sarkozy inside the Élysée Palace. Macron later told reporters it was important for him “on a human level" to take the meeting with one of his predecessors.

“I think we need to distinguish between emotion—including the legitimate emotion of relatives and part of the country, the respect that is due to every person—and the proper functioning of justice," Macron said on Tuesday.

Macron described concerns over the swiftness of Sarkozy’s sentence as “legitimate debate in a democracy, because everyone wants there to be avenues for appeal and recourse."

Sarkozy will be confined to an 86-square-foot cell in an isolation ward reserved for high-profile inmates and those deemed dangerous. The prison will allow the former president to leave his cell once a day for a one-hour daily walk in a prison yard by himself. He will also have access to exercise equipment and books. He will be granted a total of three visits a week by friends and family.

Keeping Sarkozy in isolation, his lawyers said, is a measure deemed necessary to ensure his safety.

Sarkozy’s enduring popularity with the French public stems in part from his status as a political outsider in a country that traditionally elected presidents who were groomed for leadership in elite schools.

The son of a Hungarian immigrant father and a Jewish mother, Sarkozy studied law at a public university in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre. He was later admitted to the prestigious Sciences Po school in Paris, but he ultimately left without earning a diploma.

Sarkozy first made national headlines in 1993 when, as mayor of Paris suburb Neuilly-sur-Seine, he helped free preschool children taken hostage by a man strapped with explosives who called himself the “human bomb." Sarkozy entered the school to negotiate directly with the man, who was ultimately shot dead by police after a two-day standoff. None of the children were harmed.

The brazen move foreshadowed a career in higher office that ditched the formalities used by other politicians. In 2005, Sarkozy became interior minister in the government of conservative President Jacques Chirac, where he honed a provocative and tough-talking style of speech.

He shocked many French in 2005 when he vowed to use a high-pressure Kärcher hose to “clean up" the country’s impoverished suburbs. Later that year, he told inhabitants of another Paris suburb he would get rid of the “scum" in their neighborhood.

In 2007, he was elected president, promising a break with the past that would fix the economy and restore law and order. He arrived at the Élysée Palace with record approval ratings and great fanfare, marrying Bruni a year later.

The 2008 financial crisis, followed by the eurozone sovereign-debt crisis, took a heavy toll on Sarkozy’s presidency. Unemployment rose as many manufacturers pulled out of France.

When Sarkozy ran for re-election in 2012, he found himself lagging Socialist candidate François Hollande. Sarkozy responded by taking a hard line on immigration in an attempt to draw voters from Marine Le Pen’s antimigrant party. Sarkozy lost the election, but his tactics anticipated a broader shift in the French electorate toward anti-immigration policies.

Sarkozy’s legal troubles began shortly after he left office. In 2013, Paris prosecutors opened a probe into allegations that he accepted money from the regime of Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi to finance his 2007 campaign. He was later targeted in separate investigations, including an influence-peddling probe that resulted in judges sentencing him last year to wear an electronic bracelet for one year. A French appeals court also found him guilty of breaking campaign-financing rules during his failed 2012 re-election bid. He has denied any wrongdoing and appealed that ruling.

Sarkozy now faces the austere conditions of prison life. His cell comes with a bed, desk, shower and toilet. He will receive two meals a day, delivered by food cart directly to his cell.

Every inmate receives a bag containing two blankets, bedsheets, personal hygiene products and cleaning supplies, said Pierre Botton, a former inmate.

“The cleaning is often not very well done, so it’s better to do it yourself, especially the toilets," said Botton, who was incarcerated between 2020 and 2022 in Paris-La Santé.

Botton also spent some time in the isolation ward.

“It’s really hard," he said, adding that the inmate next to his cell was very violent. “As soon as they opened his cell door, he would attack the guards."

Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Monday that he would visit Sarkozy in prison to make sure he is safe, adding: “The justice minister can visit any prison and any inmate whenever he wishes."

Write to Noemie Bisserbe at noemie.bisserbe@wsj.com and Stacy Meichtry at Stacy.Meichtry@wsj.com