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A Paris appeals court on Monday ordered the release of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy after he served just three weeks of a five-year prison sentence for criminal conspiracy.
A new appeal trial is scheduled for next spring. Until then, Sarkozy will remain under strict judicial supervision — barred from leaving France or contacting individuals linked to the case.
Sarkozy entered La Santé prison on October 21 after being convicted in September of conspiring to finance his 2007 presidential campaign with money from the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. The court also fined him 100,000 euros (about $117,000) and banned him from holding public office for five years, though it acquitted him on several other counts due to insufficient evidence.
French media say that appearing by video link from prison on Monday, Sarkozy described the past three weeks as “gruelling” and a “nightmare,” while maintaining his innocence. The appeals panel ruled that his continued detention was unjustified. Shortly after the decision, Sarkozy returned to his Paris apartment under heavy police escort.
“This is just the first step,” said his lawyer Christophe Ingrain outside the court, according to The Guardian. “The next step is the appeal trial — and our job now is to prepare for that hearing.”
Another lawyer, Jean-Michel Darrois, said solitary confinement had taken a toll on the former president. “Being in isolation has been very hard for him … He’s a strong, robust and courageous man, but this detention has caused him great suffering,” he said.
Sarkozy’s son, Louis, marked his father’s release with a childhood photo and a short message on X: “Long live freedom!”
Sarkozy, who served as France’s president from 2007 to 2012, is the first former head of state in the European Union to serve time in prison.
