the former Minister of the Interior, Claude Guéant, behind bars

Never in the history of the Fifth Republic has a former Minister of the Interior been behind bars. This has been the case since Monday, December 13, the date on which Claude Guéant was imprisoned in the Health prison, where he will serve a nine-month sentence. A prisoner like no other according to a prison unionist: “he was placed in the so-called vulnerable district, he will not be in direct contact with the criminal population for his protection”.

Claude Guéant was granted parole in the so-called cash bonuses case, which was lifted. The facts go back to the time when he was director of cabinet of Nicolas Sarkozy, then Minister of the Interior. Between 2002 and 2004, Claude Guéant had granted himself 105,000 euros in undue bonuses, simple “salary supplements” according to the former senior official. A point of view not shared by justice. In 2017, the former Minister of the Interior was sentenced to two years in prison, one of which was suspended. Four years later and despite the 3,000 euros taken from his retirement each month, Claude Guéant still owes 115,000 euros. Incarceration is a decision “incomprehensible” according to his lawyer, who should ask for a modification of the sentence, citing the fragile state of his client, aged 76.