Speaking to broadcaster RTL, Henri Guaino, a former special adviser to Sarkozy, said: “What has happened is exceptionally serious” and called Sarkozy’s conviction “a humiliation for the state and its institutions”.

Sarkozy, seen as a mentor to many politicians on the right, was convicted on criminal conspiracy charges and will be the first French postwar leader to serve jail time.

He must serve his sentence while awaiting the outcome of his appeal.

Guaino urged President Macron to pardon Sarkozy, who was president of France from 2007 to 2012.

“A pardon does not erase the conviction and may be partial. So I don’t think it would be absurd for him to be pardoned,” Guaino said.

A pardon “could very well eliminate this decision” to imprison the former French president, he added.

Despite his years-long legal troubles, Sarkozy still enjoys considerable influence and popularity on the French right and has on occasion had private meetings with Macron.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who has herself been convicted in a criminal court, criticised Thursday’s ruling.

She argued on X that the use of provisional enforcement represented “a great danger, in view of the fundamental principles of our law, foremost among which is the presumption of innocence”.

The provisional enforcement means that first-instance judgements before an appeal is heard.

In March, a French court convicted Le Pen and other officials in her far-right National Rally party for embezzling European Parliament funds.

The ruling banned her from standing for office for five years, which would scupper her ambition of taking part in France’s 2027 presidential election unless overturned on appeal.

The appeal trial is scheduled to take place in early 2026.