Sarkozy’s election marked a generational change for France: Born in Paris in 1955, he was France’s first president with no memory of World War II. A conservative, Sarkozy beat Socialist candidate Ségolène Royal in the election's second-round run-off, thwarting her bid to become France's first woman president.

Police officers will be stationed permanently in neighboring cells throughout Sarkozy's incarceration, France's interior minister said.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the president of France from 2007 to 2012, received a five-year sentence after being convicted in a campaign finance scandal.

Sarkozy, who is serving his term at La Santé prison in Paris, said in a statement on social media that he was entering the jail as an "innocent person"

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy entered a prison in Paris on Tuesday on the first day of a five-year sentence, marking the first time a former leader of modern France has spent time behind bars.

Former president Nicolas Sarkozy's lawyers say, as he shows up to a Paris prison to serve a five-year sentence, that they've already appealed for his release.