Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy is set to commence his five-year prison term next week in Paris, a sentence imposed for his role in the illegal financing of his 2007 presidential campaign. The Correctional Tribunal of Paris found him guilty of associating criminally with an organized scheme designed to funnel illicit funds for electoral purposes.

Sarkozy, who led France from 2007 until 2012 and is now 70 years old, will be the first ex-head of state from an EU country to serve a prison sentence. His incarceration follows an earlier conviction involving corruption and influence peddling, for which he was the first former French president to be monitored with an electronic tag.

He will be detained in the special wing for vulnerable prisoners at Paris's La Santé prison. Conditions in this section include a single-person cell, weekly allowance for three visits, daily exercise for an hour, and isolation from the general prison population.

Throughout his trials, Sarkozy has maintained his innocence, vehemently denying the charges against him. He has described the allegations as a serious threat to the rule of law in France, vowing to continue fighting to prove his innocence "till his last breath." Despite his intentions to appeal, the provision of "provisory execution" in French law means he will remain in custody until at least the appellate decision, expected in two months.

This case draws parallels with another high-profile French political figure, Marine Le Pen, who was also subjected to immediate confinement under similar legal provisions despite ongoing appeals.

The origins of the charges against Sarkozy trace back to 2012 when the French investigative news outlet Mediapart released a document purportedly from the Libyan government. This document indicated that Muammar Gaddafi's regime secretly allocated €50 million to support Sarkozy's 2007 campaign. Although Sarkozy contested these claims, judicial investigations leaned towards validating the document's authenticity.

Sarkozy’s legal battles have cast a long shadow over his post-presidential life, marking a significant fall from grace for one of France's most powerful figures and igniting widespread debate about the integrity of political financing in the country. A new trial is expected to provide further developments in about six months.