BERNARD TAPIE, the disgraced French businessman and politician, last night turned himself in at La Sante prison in Paris, Lara Marlowe reports.
Despite numerous criminal indictments, it was the first night Tapie spent behind bars. He could have remained free several more weeks, but would have had to renounce his appeal to the Supreme Court which will today consider his conviction for rigging a 1993 football match. French law requires criminals appealing verdicts to spend the night before the hearing in jail.
Tapie entered the prison at 7.45 p.m. "in the greatest discretion", French radio announced. It was a humiliating moment for the man who once boasted that he had "lied in good faith". Tapie managed to evade the journalists who waited outside the prison.
Mr Jean Yves Lienard, Tapie's lawyer, said his client was in a "fatalistic, resigned, courageous" mood. "He's not too happy," Mr Lienard added. "He feels like he doesn't really deserve it, but he wants to pursue his appeal. It's not a vacation resort. It's grey. It's cold. It's isolation in an unknown world."
The Supreme Court rejects 80 per cent of appeals, so it is likely Tapie will spend at least a month in the cell block with VIP criminals who include "Carlos the Jackal". Later, Tapie will probably be allowed to leave prison in the daytime to pursue his new career as an actor.