Dem
47
GOP
53
In countries that still have the rule of law, when the president or prime minister commits crimes, he gets indicted, convicted, and imprisoned (or executed). This has happened hundreds of times in world history. The most recent example is former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who started his 5-year prison term on Tuesday.
He is the sixth French leader to be convicted on criminal charges. The most recent convicted French president before him was Jacques Chirac, who was sentenced in 2011 for corruption. Other European countries that have imprisoned their leaders for criminal behavior include Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, among others. It is also common in Africa, Asia, North America, and South America. The only time the United States has done something like this was the imprisonment of Jefferson Davis after the Civil War. In any event, a country imprisoning or convicting a former leader is surprisingly common, probably because some of the people who want to become national leaders are quite corrupt.
If you checked out the first link in this item and it looks vaguely familiar, you have a good memory. We used it on June 12 in an item about the former president of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who was convicted of corruption and lost all her appeals. Convicting corrupt former presidents is quite common around the world in countries with a functioning legal system.
Sarkozy claims he is innocent, but the courts ruled otherwise. He said that one of the three books he is allowed to bring to prison with him is The Count of Monte Cristo, in which the hero escapes an island prison before seeking revenge. He also said he packed some sweaters because the prison is cold. He will serve in the VIP section of La Santé prison, for his own safety. He will spend most of his time alone in his cell and not have contact with other prisoners. He will get 1 hour a day in the prison yard, alone. His family will be allowed to visit three times a week. Americans could possibly learn something from France, where they have some pretty firm ideas on how to deal with corrupt leaders, and some VERY firm ideas on how to deal with kings. (V)