PARIS (AP) — France’s financial prosecution office informed former French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday which prison to report to and when, pending his appeal after being sentenced to five years for criminal conspiracy involving the use of funds from Libya to finance his winning 2007 campaign. The details were not immediately made public.
Sarkozy, the first ex-president in modern French history to be imprisoned, has maintained his innocence and has protested the decision to be put behind bars while waiting for the result of his appeal. Once jailed, the 70-year-old will be able to file a release request to the appeals court. Judges will then have up to two months to process the request.
The National Financial Prosecutor’s office, or PNF, told Sarkozy the specifics of his detention during a brief formal meeting on Monday afternoon. Sarkozy left the courthouse shortly afterward.
Before the hearing, Bérénice Dinh, the PNF’s general secretary and spokesperson, said Sarkozy would be told “the date, the place and the hour he has to be there.”
The PNF also said he would not be going to prison on Monday and that it would not make that information public, to spare Sarkozy the ordeal of being filmed at the start of his detention.
While long retired from active politics, Sarkozy remains an influential figure in conservative circles. He served as president from 2007 to 2012 and was previously convicted in another corruption case, but hasn’t had to serve jail time.
For safety reasons, Sarkozy is expected to be held under conditions reserved for high-profile inmates, possibly in a special “VIP area” of La Santé prison in Paris, where some of France’s most notorious criminals have been imprisoned.
Sarkozy was handed the five-year sentence on Sept. 25 in a sprawling legal case after a decade of investigation. The Paris court said the prison sentence was effective immediately instead of suspending it pending appeal, citing “the seriousness of the disruption to public order caused by the offense.”
Sarkozy was given 18 days after the ruling to “organize his professional life” before Monday’s detention decision.
The French justice ministry said in 2024 that 90% of adults convicted and sentenced to at least two years in prison are immediately detained.
The court said Sarkozy, as a presidential candidate and interior minister, used his position “to prepare corruption at the highest level” from 2005 to 2007 to finance his presidential campaign with funds from Libya, then led by longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi.
The court cleared Sarkozy of three other charges and said there is no evidence the money transferred from Libya to France ended up being used in Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign or for his “direct personal enrichment.”
Sarkozy has consistently claimed his innocence, insisting he was the victim of a plot by people linked to the Libyan government. He suggested the allegations were retaliation for his call in 2011 for the removal of Gadhafi, who was toppled and killed amid Arab Spring pro-democracy protests that year.
An appeal trial is scheduled to take place at a later date, possibly in the spring.
A car carrying former French President Nicolas Sarkozy leaves his home before appearing at the National Financial Prosecutor's office to set a date and location for his incarceration, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
FILE- Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy leaves after a Paris court sentenced him to 5 years after finding him guilty of criminal conspiracy in an alleged scheme to finance his 2007 campaign with funds from Libya, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)
PARIS (AP) — Ukraine on Monday signed a letter of intent to buy up to 100 Rafale warplanes from France, the Ukrainian Embassy and the French president’s office said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron signed the document stating that Ukraine is considering the possibility of buying French defense equipment, including Rafale jet fighters, Macron’s office said. It did not provide further details.
Zelenskyy was on his ninth visit to Paris since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. His talks are meant to strengthen Ukraine’s defenses as the country enters another winter under Russian bombardment of its energy infrastructure and other targets.
On Monday morning, Macron and Zelenskyy visited an air base in the Paris outskirts, before heading to the headquarters of a multinational force, dubbed the “coalition of the willing,” that France and Britain have been preparing with more than 30 other nations to police an eventual ceasefire in Ukraine.
French officials say the force could be deployed immediately after a ceasefire and would be stationed away from the front lines in an effort to help dissuade renewed Russian attacks. Russian President Vladimir Putin has so far rejected calls for a ceasefire as his troops make creeping gains on the battlefield.
Zelenskyy wrote on X on Sunday that he looked forward to a “historic deal with France in Paris to strengthen our combat aviation and air defense." He made a stop to Greece on his way to France to sign an agreement to supply Ukraine with U.S. liquefied natural gas.
Last month, Ukraine and Sweden signed an agreement exploring the possibility of Ukraine buying up to 150 Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets over the next decade or more. Ukraine has already received American-made F-16s and French Mirages.
France is among major suppliers of defense assistance to Ukraine, including air defense systems and fighter jets.
The chief of the French defense staff, Air Force Gen. Fabien Mandon, this month told French senators that Ukraine needs immediate additional air defenses because Russia is on average targeting the country with about 1,700 drones per week and also hitting it with missiles.
He said that European-made SAMP/T ground-to-air systems that France provided are proving more effective than U.S.-made Patriot batteries against hard-to-hit Russian missiles.
“We helped Ukraine by deploying missile and drone interception systems called the SAMP/T system. The Russians adapted the flight profiles of their most advanced missiles because they realized they were being intercepted by Ukrainian defenses. Today, the Patriot system is struggling to intercept them, but the SAMP/T is intercepting them,” Mandon said.
Associated Press writer John Leicester contributed to the report.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
French President Emmanuel Macron, left, welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025 before a joint press conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
French President Emmanuel Macron, left, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, visit the offices of the future international force known as the coalition of the willing, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025 at the Mont Valerien in Suresnes, outside Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Pool)
French President Emmanuel Macron, right, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shake hands after signing an agreement Monday, Nov. 17, 2025 at the Villacoublay air base near Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Pool)
French President Emmanuel Macron, right, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sign an agreement Monday, Nov. 17, 2025 at the Villacoublay air base near Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Pool)
French President Emmanuel Macron, right, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hug after signing an agreement Monday, Nov. 17, 2025 at the Villacoublay air base near Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Pool)
A Rafale jet fighter is seen before the arrival of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Monday, Nov. 17, 2025 at the Villacoublay air base near Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Pool)
A Rafale jet fighter, drones and ammunitions are seen before the arrival of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Monday, Nov. 17, 2025 at the Villacoublay air base near Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Pool)
A Rafale jet fighter is seen before the arrival of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Monday, Nov. 17, 2025 at the Villacoublay air base near Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Pool)
