France’s jailed ex-president Sarkozy targeted by death threats, prosecutor office says

France’s jailed ex-president Sarkozy targeted by death threats, prosecutor office says
Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris, France, 21 October, 2025
Reuters

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been the target of death threats from an inmate at Paris’s La Santé prison, where he began serving his sentence this week, prompting an official investigation, the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday.

“On 22 October 2025, the Paris prosecutor’s office was informed by the director of La Santé prison about a video circulating on social media, apparently filmed by an inmate, in which he issued threats following Nicolas Sarkozy’s arrival at the facility,” the office said in a statement emailed to Reuters.

Three prisoners have been questioned as part of the inquiry, and two mobile phones were confiscated during a search of the prison, it added.

Sarkozy, who served as France’s president from 2007 to 2012, began serving a five-year prison sentence on Tuesday after being found guilty of conspiring to obtain campaign funds from Libya. The former leader has been assigned two armed police officers for protection while in custody — a move that has drawn criticism from prison staff unions.

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