[Source: Reuters]

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was 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 2007-2012.

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.

As he exited the courtroom, Sarkozy, visibly moved, expressed his outrage at what he said was a “scandalous” ruling.

“If they absolutely want me to sleep in jail, I will sleep in jail, but with my head held high,” he told reporters, adding that he was innocent. “I will not apologise for something I didn’t do.”

“What happened today … is of extreme gravity in regard to the rule of law, and for the trust one can have in the justice system,” he said of the ruling, as his wife, model and singer-songwriter Carla Bruni, stood by him.

He was acquitted by the Paris court of all other charges, including corruption and receiving illegal campaign financing.

“We were shocked (by the sentence) because when we started hearing the decision being read out, we thought his innocence would be recognised,” one of his lawyers, Jean-Michel Darrois, told reporters. “We hope the appeals court will see things more clearly and will recognise his innocence.”

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.

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