Why The United States Should Grant Asylum to Nicolas Sarkozy.
In a few days, the former French President will go to jail, the first head of state since the Second World War to do so. His conviction is not only a French affair but a symptom of a deeper conflict within the Western world that must be taken seriously.
Nicolas Sarkozy was not a good president. He understood before everyone in the West the need for more freedom in the economy and more authority at the borders and on the streets. Unfortunately, once elected, he pursued a completely different set of policies. When one of his ministers decided to use DNA tests to help deport illegal migrants, his celebrity wife pressured him to backtrack. When he composed a new cabinet, he filled it with socialists. One of his closest supporters ironically remarked that he was in favor of bipartisanship even if it meant including this right.
That being said, like many others, Nicolas Sarkozy has recently been a victim of a highly politicized judicial branch of government. No matter how many concessions he made to his opponents, they never forgave him for saying out loud what most of the French people thought back then and even more so now. For the past twenty years, Sarkozy has been targeted by political opponents and activist judges. This is not a conspiracy theory. It is a pattern.
The case against him rests on extremely shaky grounds. The central claim, that Libya financed his 2007 presidential campaign, was based on a forged document published by a far-left newspaper. During the trial, the tribunal itself recognized the document as fake, yet the prosecution continued as if nothing had changed. The entire case was a political construction built on insinuations and false statements.
Sarkozy’s conviction follows a familiar model: the use of judicial activism to neutralize political opponents. He will serve his sentence in partial isolation, while the mainstream media is already savorin the humiliating details about his future detention. The message is clear: even a former president can be broken if he dares to challenge the political establishement.
Many legal experts, including magistrates and constitutional scholars, have criticized this verdict as unprecedented and dangerous. It undermines not only the credibility of the judicial system but also the very democratic principles of our countries.
Beyond the "semi" surprising content of the ruling, the fact remains that a former French president will serve more time in jail than many convicted of violent crimes. This outcome partly reflects Sarkozy's own weaknesses as a leader, but it also raises serious questions about the state of justice in the West. The decision, rendered by a judge known for her hostility to Sarkozy (she wrote an op-ed against his policies when he was President), fits into a broader pattern: the instrumentalization of the judiciary against political opponents on the right.
This phenomenon is not isolated. In France, Marine Le Pen, the main opponent of Emmanuel Macron, has been barred from running in the next election. François Fillon, Macron's previous rival, was prosecuted just weeks before the 2017 presidential elections. In Brazil, former president Jair Bolsonaro has also been convicted on shaky grounds. In the United States, Donald Trump and several of his allies have faced prosecutions widely viewed as politically motivated. The pattern is identical. What connects all these cases is not justice but ideology.
If we stay in France, history provides a striking parallel. Contrary to popular belief, the French Revolution did not erupt because the people could no longer tolerate a despotic king. It began because the king was prevented by judicial institutions from reforming a dying economy. Under the pretext of defending their viewpoint, those courts blocked every effort at reform until the system collapsed. The same paralysis threatens us today.
This is why the United States should stand by Nicolas Sarkozy. Not because he was a great president, but because he has become a symbol of a bigger struggle within the West. Those who defend borders, culture, and sovereignty are now treated as criminals, and instead of focusing only on their country, they should help each other, like when the United States granted political asylum to former members of Allende's government.
The Trump administration has shown some interest in this civilizational approach when it offered support to Argentina under President Milei's leadership. America should extend the same solidarity to leaders in Europe who face persecution for their convictions. Right-leaning governments and movements must know that they will not be abandoned.
Sarkozy will not accept that offer; he will be booked and jailed. He may win his appeal, and that seems likely. But what matters most is the symbol. A symbol of solidarity among those who still believe in Western civilization and refuse to surrender.
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