Holding hands with his partner, Carla Bruni , former French President Nicolas Sarkozy left his home this morning to head to prison, to the cheers of the crowd waiting for him outside.
The former French president greeted supporters before getting into his car and heading to La Santé prison .
Shortly before him, Sarkozy's three sons, Jean, Pierre and Louis, also emerged from the house, amid applause, while people also sang the French national anthem, La Marseillaise.
Yesterday afternoon, Nicolas Sarkozy was received at the Elysee Palace by Emmanuel Macron, while the Minister of Justice, Gérald Darmanin, planned to visit him in prison.
" I will stand with my head held high ," the former president declared when he learned of his sentence, while continuing to plead not guilty in the criminal conspiracy scandal for the illegal financing of his election campaign by Muammar Gaddafi, for which he was sentenced to five years in prison.