A Paris court on Thursday sentenced former French president Nicolas Sarkozy to five years and ordered him to go to prison after finding him guilty of criminal conspiracy over accusations the late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi helped fund his victorious 2007 presidential run.
The court ordered that Sarkozy should be placed in custody at a later date, with prosecutors given one month to inform the former head of state when he should go to prison.
Even if Sarkozy, 70, appeals the verdict this measure will remain in force. Should he go to prison, he will be the first president in the history of modern France to be jailed.
He was also fined 100,000 euros ($117,000) and banned from holding public office.
Sarkozy has been convicted already in two separate trials but always avoided jail, in one case serving his sentence with an electronic tag which has now been removed.
As well as appealing, Sarkozy could also request parole on the grounds of his age.
The presiding judge, Nathalie Gavarino, said the offences were of "exceptional gravity" and "likely to undermine the confidence of citizens."
Another defendant in the trial, Alexandre Djouhri, who is accused of being the intermediary in the scheme was sentenced to six years and ordered to be placed immediately under arrest.
Sarkozy's right-hand-man Claude Gueant and ex-minister Brice Hortefeux were ordered to serve six and two years respectively. Hortefeux, 67, will be able to serve is term with an electronic tag while Gueant, 80, will not go to prison due to the state of his health.
The court earlier convicted Sarkozy on charges of criminal conspiracy but acquitted him of corruption and accepting illegal campaign financing.
It also said there was no proof that money from the Libyan Kadhafi was ultimately used in his campaign.
'Fight To The End'
Prosecutors argued that Sarkozy and his aides devised a pact with Kadhafi in 2005 to illegally fund Sarkozy's victorious presidential election bid two years later.
Investigators believe that in return Kadhafi was promised help to restore his international image after Tripoli was blamed by the West for bombing a plane in 1988 over Lockerbie, Scotland and another over Niger in 1989, killing hundreds of passengers.
Kadhafi was ultimately overthrown and killed by opponents in 2011 during the Arab Spring as NATO military intervention -- in which France under Sarkozy played a key role -- enforced a no-fly zone.
The prosecution's case is based on statements from seven former Libyan dignitaries, trips to Libya by Gueant and Hortefeux, financial transfers, and the notebooks of the former Libyan oil minister Shukri Ghanem, who was found drowned in the Danube river in Vienna in 2012.
Sarkozy has faced a litany of legal problems since his mandate and has been charged separately with corruption, bribery, influence-peddling and campaign finance infringements.
He was first convicted for graft and sentenced to a one-year jail term, which he served with an electronic tag for three months before being granted conditional release.
Separately, he received a one-year jail term -- six months with another six months suspended -- in the so-called "Bygmalion affair" for illegal campaign financing. Sarkozy has gone to France's top appeals court to appeal that verdict.
He has faced repercussions beyond the courtroom, including losing his Legion of Honour -- France's highest distinction -- following the graft conviction.
Legal issues aside, the man who styled himself as the "hyper-president" while in office still enjoys considerable influence and popularity on the right of French politics, and is known to regularly meet with President Emmanuel Macron.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
