Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison sentence for conspiracy

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy leave their home (Thibault Camus/AP)

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has arrived at a prison in Paris to begin serving a five-year sentence for a criminal conspiracy to finance his 2007 election campaign with funds from Libya.

He is the first ex-leader of modern France to be imprisoned.