PARIS — A crowd thronged outside the home of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday morning, singing the national anthem as he prepared to go to jail.

 

Some held up portraits of the right-wing politician, who was head of state between 2007 and 2012, while others flew the French flag or distributed t-shirts bearing his image.

 

Among the crowd, Priya Martin, 62, had left her suburban home before dawn to take a train to Paris.

 

"It was really important for us to be here, even if we don't get to see him," Martin said.

 

"What's important is that he sees the rally before he goes to prison."

 

A court last month found Sarkozy guilty of seeking to acquire campaign funds from Libya for his 2007 presidential bid, ordering him to serve five years in jail.

 

"This is truly a sad day for France and for democracy," said Flora Amanou, 41, another supporter who said she had closely followed his campaigns.

 

Marie-Josephine Paysa, an 80-year-old Parisian, said she had come at sunrise to show her support.

 

Valerie Ghibeaux, 66, said the sentence only served to "humiliate Nicolas Sarkozy and humiliate our country".

 

Sarkozy's family, including his 28-year-old son Louis, who is running for mayor in the south of France, had called for the rally.

 

Demonstrators packed the small Parisian street of Pierre Guerin as locals in the capital's affluent 16th district watched from balconies.

 

A banner of the railings of his residence read, "Good luck Nicolas, come back quick."

 

'Welcome Sarkozy'

 

While many of the ex-leader's supporters were elderly, there were also some young people cheering in the crowd as Sarkozy stepped out into the street hand-in-hand with his wife, singer Carla Bruni.

 

Marick Braide, 24, had travelled in from the Parisian suburb of Montreuil to catch a glimpse of the former president.

 

"I was important for me to show my support, and to show that there are people from lots of different generations who feel the same," he said.

 

Sarkozy, wearing a white shirt, dark blue jumper and jacket, hugged his wife, dressed in black, before waving to his supporters and getting into the car that would take him to jail.

 

As the doors of the prison closed in on him, some of the convicts whistled.

 

"Sarkozy's here," cried one. "Welcome Sarkozy!" said another.