By Obinna Uballa
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been released from prison pending the outcome of his appeal against a conviction for allegedly receiving illegal campaign funding from Libya.
A court in Paris ordered his release on Monday after prosecutors supported his application, ending a 20-day jail stint he described as a “nightmare.”
Sarkozy, 70, was in September sentenced to five years in prison after a lower court ruled that his 2007 presidential campaign was partly financed by Muammar Gaddafi’s Libyan regime.
He began serving the sentence on October 21, becoming the first former leader of an EU member state to be jailed.
His lawyers immediately appealed the verdict, and the court has now ruled that with the appeal pending, the former president is again presumed innocent. The appeal hearing is scheduled for March.
Appearing by video link from La Santé prison, where he was held in a special unit for security reasons, Sarkozy said incarceration had been “gruelling.”
“It’s hard, very hard… a nightmare,” he told the court, while thanking prison staff for treating him with “exceptional humanity.”
Prosecutor Damien Brunet told the court that release was appropriate but should be accompanied by judicial supervision to prevent any attempt to influence witnesses or tamper with evidence.
Sarkozy was supported in court by his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, and two of his sons.
His imprisonment sparked debate in France. Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin visited him in jail, a move criticised by France’s top prosecutor as potentially undermining judicial independence. Prison officers also objected to special security measures allocating two bodyguards to adjoining cells, AFP reported.
Sarkozy has been embroiled in multiple legal battles since leaving office in 2012. He previously served a separate corruption sentence under home confinement, and France’s highest court is due to rule this month on a separate illegal campaign financing case linked to his failed 2012 re-election bid.
In the Libyan funding case, prosecutors allege that Sarkozy’s associates reached a secret financing pact with Gaddafi in 2005. While the court found him guilty of criminal conspiracy, it did not determine that he personally received or handled the funds.
