Former Sarchzy president offered permanent police protection in prison, guarded by two officers

Former French President Nicolas Sarcozy will have two police stationees stationed in his cell during his stay in prison to ensure that he does not suffer any damage.

Sarkozy arrived in the La Santé prison in Paris on Tuesday to begin serving the five-year prison sentence after being convicted of plotting to secure funds for the election campaign from Libya.

On Wednesday, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said two police officers from the security unit protecting former presidents would always be stationed in a cell next door to the one in Sarkozy all the time of his stay in prison.

The republic's “president is eligible for protection because of his status. There is a potential threat to him, and this protection will continue even while he is in prison,” said Nuñez.

He added that the officers would stay close to him “as long as necessary”. According to French media, these officers will be part of a team that works in shifts.

Sarkozy will be held in the prison isolation unit La Santé, where prisoners have individual cells and kept separate during open air activities, which means he will not be in contact with other prisoners.

The prison guards' union protested the police presence within the institution. Nicolas Peyrin, from the CGT union, said La Santé staff is fully able to secure the security of the prisoners and that police are not needed.

“has no added value,” he said.

While Wilfried Fonck, the head of another prison guard union, said ““are essentially telling us we don't know how to do our job. Today we have two civilians inside a prison that shouldn't be there,” he said, “and they don't know the prison system. I've never seen anything like it in 25 years of work. ”

Sarcozy's lawyers have submitted a request for his early release pending appeal of the verdict, and have said they expect this request to be reviewed within a month. They hope he'll be released before Christmas. Periscope.