Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, a conservative, was applauded by supporters as he went to prison on Tuesday, protesting his innocence as he went and calling for the government to be dissolved for fresh national elections.

Nicolas Sarkozy departed his Paris home to travel to the maximum-security La Santé Prison on Tuesday, keeping an appointment made by the court after his sentencing to a five year incarceration earlier this month over a hotly contested campaign financing charge. Sarkozy and his lawyers have insisted the case is one of “false criminal conspiracy” and that other French politicians have been let off for doing much more, claiming the prosecution against him was one of lawfare driven by a desire for revenge.

The former conservative statesman was applauded, cheered, a

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