Sarkozy freed after just 20 days in jail over conspiracy

Paris: France’s former president Nicolas Sarkozy has been freed from prison after a Paris appeals court granted him release under judicial supervision, less than three weeks after he began serving a five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy in a scheme to finance his 2007 election campaign with funds from Libya.

Sarkozy, 70, left La Santé prison by car and later quickly stepped into his home in western Paris – keen to avoid cameras. The brief scene was in stark contrast to his very public incarceration 20 days earlier, when he walked down the alley near his house hand-in-hand with his wife, singer and former supermodel Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, as he waved to supporters.

Sarkozy, who denies wrongdoing, is banned from leaving France 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 northern hemisphere spring.

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

Sarkozy describes prison as “a nightmare”

During Monday’s hearing examining his request, Sarkozy, speaking from the prison via video conference, argued he had 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, who was president from 2007 to 2012, paid tribute to prison staff who he said helped him through “this nightmare”. His wife and two of his sons attended the hearing at the Paris courthouse.

He was held in a cell in the isolation wing of the jail due to threats to his safety. The BBC reported he had a toilet, a shower, a desk and a small electric hob in his cell. He also had access to a small television, costing $US16 ($24) a month.

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

Still, Sarkozy told the court he never asked Libya’s longtime ruler, Muammar Gaddafi, 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,” he said.

Banned from meeting justice minister

The court said he did not represent a flight risk and therefore did not have to remain in prison until his appeal. But in a rare decision, the court specifically banned Sarkozy from being in touch with Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin and other justice officials.

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

Sarkozy, who governed from 2007 to 2012, faces separate proceedings, including a November 26 ruling by France’s highest court over 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 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.

AP, Reuters

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