Former French President Sarkozy leaves prison

A Paris appeals court ruled former French President Nicolas Sarkozy will be released from prison on Monday afternoon and placed under judicial supervision, less than three weeks after he began serving a five-year sentence over a scheme to finance his 2007 election campaign with funds from Libya.

Sarkozy, 70, was expected to leave Paris' La Santé prison within hours.

He will be banned from leaving the French territory and from being in touch with key people including co-defendants and witnesses in the case, the court said. An appeals trial is expected to take place later, possibly in the spring.

Sarkozy became the first former French head of state in modern times to be sent behind bars after his conviction on Sept. 25. He denies wrongdoing. He was jailed on Oct. 21 pending appeal but immediately filed for early release.

During Monday's hearing, Sarkozy, speaking from prison via video conference, argued he has always met all justice requirements.

"I had never imagined I would experience prison at 70. This ordeal was imposed on me, and I lived through it. It’s hard, very hard,” he said.

Sarkozy also paid tribute to prison staff who he said helped him through “this nightmare." Sarkozy’s wife, supermodel-turned-singer Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, and two of his sons, attended the hearing at the Paris courthouse.

Monday’s proceedings didn’t involve the motives for the sentencing.

Still, Sarkozy told the court he never asked Libya’s longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi for any financing. “I will never admit something I didn’t do,” he said.

French law provides that release should be the general rule pending appeal, while detention should be reserved for those considered dangerous or at risk of fleeing to another country, or to protect evidence or prevent pressure on witnesses.

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Christophe Ingrain, praised “normal implementation of law” in a brief statement. “The next step is the appeal trial and our work now … is to get prepared for that.”

In a rare decision, the court specifically banned Sarkozy from being in touch with Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin.

Darmanin, a former conservative who once considered Sarkozy as his mentor before rejoining President Emmanuel Macron's centrist party in 2017, paid a visit to Sarkozy in prison last month. Some French magistrates criticized the move as undermining the independence of judges.

Sarkozy, who governed from 2007 to 2012, faces separate proceedings, including a Nov. 26 ruling by France’s highest court over illegal financing of his failed 2012 reelection bid, and an ongoing investigation into alleged witness tampering in the Libya case.

In 2023, he was found guilty of corruption qnd influence peddling for trying to bribe a magistrate in exchange for information about a legal case in which he was implicated. France's highest court, the Court of Cassation, later upheld the verdict.

Based on reporting by Africanews.