A former advisor to Sarkozy requests the pardon of the former president before incarceration, considering that this would be a humiliation of the state.

Henri Guaino requested that Nicolas Sarkozy be pardoned before starting to serve his five-year prison sentence, believing that such a measure could eliminate the humiliation brought not only to Sarkozy but also to the French state. The pardon could be partial and would not erase the conviction, but it could suspend the incarceration. Guaino also criticized what he calls a "judicial coup," highlighting the conflict between political power and the judiciary, comparing the situation in France to that in the United States, where the judiciary has been politically challenged.