World News: Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy Begins Prison Term

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Category: Haute This Issue

Published on Monday, 20 October 2025 12:24

Written by Olivier Longhi

By still proclaiming his innocence in a well-honed and calculated victim rhetoric, Nicolas Sarkozy is blowing on the embers of a growing populism that is eating away at all strata of contemporary Western societies. Explanations.

When he crosses the threshold of the Prison de la Santé, Nicolas Sarkozy will have to say goodbye, at least for a while, to what his political past was. The first ex-president of the Republic to be found guilty to the point of being incarcerated with the same caution as any ordinary convicted individual, that is to say none, Nicolas Sarkozy will also bring into his cell, by proxy in any case, the whole clique of his supporters and defenders, outraged and ulcerated, that the former head of state could be imprisoned, forgetting in passing that he was found guilty in the first instance.

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However, it is in this ability to voluntarily forget the guilt of the former president, deliberately maintained by the person concerned himself, that is now being debated. Accustomed to the rhetoric of victimhood presenting him as an ideal culprit at the heart of an infernal machination that aims at his destruction, Nicolas Sarkozy is knowingly working to feed the idea of an obscure conspiracy seeking to harm his person.

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Machinations

To sum up, he is not guilty of anything, but the judges are guilty of having convicted him. One could easily associate, by a cautious but well-founded analogy, to this theory that of the deep state put forward by Donald Trump, where unknown all-powerful officials would hatch dark machinations aimed at destabilizing the state. In Political Science, this is what we call populism.

Surprisingly, Nicolas Sarkozy was almost ten years ahead of Donald Trump or Boris Johnson, or even Nigel Farrage, the ardent defenders of Brexit on the pretext that the European Union was seeking to force the United Kingdom into a system presented as deadly for Albion. For the former President of the Republic, taking on the role of the victim is a successful defense strategy, understand, which is sufficient in itself and which serves as a political line.

Thus, by adopting this posture that plays on the affect and not the reality of the facts, the former president knows how to fan the embers of a latent conspiracy theory, cleverly fed by social networks and sections of society tempted by this easy and accessible posture because it allows without difficulty to accuse a so-called system rather than assume its responsibilities.

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Media Procession

In a contemporary society where the word prevails in mind, instinct for reflection, passion for reason, the freedom to contest court decisions beyond the limit imposed by the reality of the facts is now assimilated to a license, or even an absolute right. Some will see it as a change in morals, others as a regression. It doesn't matter to tell the truth because the headlong rush seems uncontrollable.

Of course, the incarceration of Nicolas Sarkozy and his media procession will soon be replaced by others, but the evil is there and well there. It affects all strata of society, from schools to companies, including at the top of the state. So much so that to lull ourselves to this music, we would all be living in a world of victims. But of what...?

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Bio: Olivier Longhi has extensive experience in European history. A seasoned journalist with fifteen years of experience, he is currently a professor of history and geography in the Toulouse region of France. He has held a variety of publishing positions, including Head of Agency and Chief of Publishing. A journalist and recognized blogger, editor, and editorial project manager, he has trained and managed editorial teams, worked as a journalist for various local radio stations, was a press and publishing consultant, and was a communications consultant.