The world of French politics was rocked this week after it was announced that one of the country's former presidents began a five-year prison term as a result of charges for a conspiracy involving the late Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi.

According to JustTheNews, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was set to start his five-year sentence as a result of being found guilty of criminal conspiracy with Gadhafi.

For obvious reasons, the situation is historical, but especially because it's the first time a former president of the country has ever been locked behind bars.

The former French president will serve out his sentence at La Santé Prison in southern Paris.

What's going on?

It was only last month that Sarkozy received the bombshell prison sentence from a French judge.

JustTheNews noted:

Last month, Sarkozy received his five-year prison sentence from a court, where one of the judges said he was guilty of letting his close associates “act with the aim of obtaining financial support” from the Libyan regime. The panel of judges dismissed corruption charges against Sarkozy, finding no evidence of Libyan funds being used in his 2007 campaign.

Sarkozy steadfastly denied charges of wrongdoing with Gadhafi's visit to the country, arguing that the visits provided both countries valuable trade deals.

Sarkozy hasn't been in office since 2012 when he left, and has since appealed his conviction. He has already launched the appeals process, according to the report.

While the appeals process unfolds, the former president will likely be in either solitary confinement or the "VIP" section of the prison.

L’ancien président Nicolas Sarkozy vient d’arriver à la prison de la Santé, où il sera incarcéré — une première dans l’histoire de notre pays.

Quelle honte…

Aujourd’hui, et plus que jamais, soutien total à Nicolas Sarkozy.

Nous sommes des millions à vos côtés.#Sarkozy pic.twitter.com/ExR3Z4yMAt

— Jérémy Benhaïm (@JeremBenhaim) October 21, 2025

French social media users react

The announcement of Sarkozy beginning his prison term drew mountains of commentary from French citizens across social media.

"I'm not saying that Sarkozy is white as snow, far from it, but putting him in prison? For what purpose? He has appealed, but he's still going to jail, while repeat rapists, sometimes OQTF, are free! SHAME!" one X user said, in a translated post.

Another X user wrote, "I'm not an unconditional fan of Sarkozy but it reeks so much of revenge against the Right..."

It'll be interesting to see how much of his five-year term he'll actually serve if the appeals process doesn't pan out.