Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy's 5-year prison sentence begins this Tuesday

In the so-called VIP section, Sarkozy could have his own room in one of 18 identical 9-square-metre cells (96.8 square feet) in a wing separated from other general prison inmates. Nicolas Sarkozy this Tuesday becomes the first former French president in living memory to be imprisoned as he begins a five-year sentence in Paris’ La Santé prison for criminal conspiracy in an attempt to use Libyan money to finance his 2007 election campaign. The right-wing president of France between 2007 and 2012, Sarkozy has always maintained his innocence but will, in any case, serve his sentence in a prison that has housed some of the most well-known prisoners since the 1800s.