Paris court condemns former French president Nicolas Sarkozy

A Paris appeals court decided on Monday to release former French President Nicolas Sarkozy from prison and place him under judicial supervision.

Monday’s announcement came less than three weeks later Sarkozy began serving a five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy in a scheme to finance his 2007 election campaign with funds from Libya.

Sarkozy will be banned from leaving French territory, the court said. An appeal trial is expected to be held later, possibly in the spring.

Sarkozy, 70, became the first former French head of state in modern times to be sent behind bars after his conviction on September 25. He denies any wrongdoing. He was jailed on October 21 pending appeal, but immediately requested early release.

During Monday’s hearing, Sarkozy, speaking from Paris’ La Santé prison by videoconference, argued that he has always complied with all the requirements of justice.

“I never imagined that I would live in prison at 70 years old. They imposed this test on me and I lived it. It is hard, very hard,” he said.

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

Monday’s proceedings did not address the reasons for the sentence.

Still, Sarkozy told the court he never asked Libya’s former ruler, Muammar Gaddafi, for funding. “I will never admit something I didn’t do,” he said.

Under French law, release will be the general rule pending appeal, while detention remains the exception. The judges weighed whether Sarkozy presented a flight risk, could pressure witnesses or could obstruct justice.

Advocate General Damien Brunet, representing the public interest, called for Sarkozy’s release and place under judicial supervision.

If that request was granted, Sarkozy was expected to be released from Paris’ La Santé prison within hours.

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

In 2023 he was found guilty of corruption and influence peddling for attempting to bribe a magistrate in exchange for information about a court case in which he was involved. France’s highest court, the Court of Cassation, later confirmed the verdict.