Paris court says former President Sarkozy will be released from prison under judicial supervision
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy leaves in front of his wife, French-Italian singer Carla Bruni, after the verdict in his trial for illegal campaign financing from Libya for his successful 2007 presidential bid, at the Tribunal de Paris courthouse in Paris, Sept. 25. On Nov. 10, the Paris Court of Appeal ordered the release of Sarkozy, who had been imprisoned for 20 days following his conviction, and placed him under judicial supervision. AFP-Yonhap
PARIS — A Paris appeals court has decided to release former French President Nicolas Sarkozy from prison and place him under judicial supervision.
Monday's announcement came less than three weeks after 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 the French territory, the court said. An appeal trial is expected to take place later.
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.
The former president, 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 and 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.