Nicolas Sarkozy ’s election as French president in April 2007 enjoyed record local viewing figures for the time, with some 13.3 million people tuning as results rolled in.

Eighteen years later, the former president drew millions of viewers once again as he set off on Tuesday morning for Paris’ La Santé prison begin a five-year sentence, after being found guilty of conspiring to raise funds from late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi to finance his 2007 election campaign.

The 70-year-old former statesman, who was acquitted of personally receiving or using the funds, has continued to profess his innocence.

But with the ex-president becoming the first post-World War Two French leader to be sent to prison, the historic event was covered live by all of France ’s main broadcasters, news chan

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