French Interior Minister Nunez said on the 22nd that, during former President Sarkozy's prison term, two police officers would be stationed in nearby prison cells to ensure his personal safety.
Nunez told Europe 1 Radio that day: "France’s former president, because of his status, is entitled to protection. He is clearly facing threats and will continue to receive such protection during his detention."
Nunez said that while Sarkozy is serving his sentence, two police officers will be stationed in adjacent cells, and a special group dedicated to protecting the former president’s safety will have personnel rotating shifts.
Sarkozy was sentenced to five years in prison by the Paris Criminal Court for illegally accepting campaign funding from Libya's former leader Gaddafi. He entered Paris’s La Santé Prison on the 21st to begin his prison life.
Sarkozy is being held in a single-person cell and is not expected to have any contact with other inmates. Reportedly, he can leave his cell once a day for a walk in a small courtyard, and is allowed three visits per week.
The French prison guards’ union is very dissatisfied with the arrangement of having police officers permanently stationed in the prison, arguing that the staff at La Santé Prison are fully capable of ensuring prisoner safety and that there is no need to deploy police.
Sarkozy has always denied any wrongdoing, and his lawyers have already applied for his early release.