Another son, Pierre, called for a message of love – “nothing else, please”.
Nicolas Sarkozy, 70, arrived at the entrance to the notorious 19th-Century prison in the Montparnasse district south of the River Seine at 09:40 (07:40 GMT), amid high security.
He continues to protest his innocence in the highly controversial Libyan money affair and posted a message on X as he was driven to the jail, saying “I have no doubt. Truth will prevail. But how crushing the price will have been”.
“With unwavering strength I tell [the French people] it is not a former president they are locking up this morning – it is an innocent man,” he wrote. “Do not feel sorry for me because my wife and my children are by my side… but this morning I feel deep sorrow for a France humiliated by a will for revenge.”
Sarkozy has said he wants no special treatment at La Santé prison, although he has been put in the isolation section for his own safety as other inmates are infamous drugs dealers or have been convicted for terror offences.
Other than Philippe Pétain, the only other former French head of state to have been jailed was King Louis XVI before his execution in January 1793.
