Sarkozy says he will ‘sleep in jail but with head held high’ after conviction

Former French president receives five-year prison sentence for criminal conspiracy over pact with Gaddafi regime

The former French president Nicolas Sarkozy said he would sleep in jail but with my head held high" after receiving a five-year prison sentence for criminal conspiracy - the first time a former head of state has been sent to prison in modern French history.

The verdict and sentencing followed a trial in which he and his aides were accused of making a corruption pact with the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi to receive funding for the 2007 French presidential election campaign.