Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy will be guarded by two police officers placed in adjacent cells while he serves his sentence in the “La Santes“ prison in Paris. The measure aims to guarantee his safety, Interior Minister Laurent Nunes said, quoted by “Reuters“, BTA reports.
Sarkozy began serving his five-year sentence on Tuesday after being convicted of participating in a conspiracy to illegally finance his election campaign with funds from Libya.
“The former president has the right to protection because of his status. "There are real threats against him, so the protection is maintained during his stay in custody," Nunes told Europe 1 radio.
According to him, the two police officers are part of the team that generally guards former presidents. They will take turns on duty and will remain in prison for as long as necessary.
Sarkozy is being held in an isolation cell, where prisoners are kept separate and do not come into contact with others, even during outdoor periods.
However, the measure has sparked discontent among prison guards' unions. CGT representative Nicolas Peyren said that the staff at “La Sant“ are fully capable of ensuring the safety of all prisoners without the intervention of the police.
Hugo Vitry of the Force Ouvriere union added that the staff had not been officially informed of the presence of police guards. "We have contacted the administration and the Ministry of Justice to ask for an explanation," he told BFM TV.
Sarkozy's lawyers have already filed a request for early release while the appeals process is ongoing. They hope to have a decision within a month and expect their client to be released by Christmas.
The former president has consistently denied all charges and says the case against him is politically motivated.