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Ex-French President Sarkozy to be released from prison under judicial supervision

The court agreed that sending the ex-president to prison was an excessive measure

Nicolas Sarkozy Ludovic Marin/ Pool via AP

Nicolas Sarkozy

© Ludovic Marin/ Pool via AP

PARIS, November 10. /TASS/. The Paris Court of Appeal has granted the request by ex-French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s lawyers that he be released from prison under judicial supervision, BFMTV reported, citing the court’s ruling.

The court agreed that sending the ex-president to prison was an excessive measure as he did not represent a flight risk.

Sarkozy’s judicial supervision conditions will include bans on leaving France and contacting any acting French justice minister, including Gerald Darmanin, who visited him in prison. Sarkozy is expected to leave prison later in the day.

"Today, criminal laws were implemented the way they should be. This is just another stage, and appeal hearings come next. Nicolas Sarkozy and I will focus on preparing for the hearings," the ex-president’s lawyer Christophe Ingrain told reporters. Hearings of an appeal against Sarkozy’s conviction are scheduled for March 2026.

Sarkozy took part in today’s court hearing via videolink. He said that life in prison was exhausting and promised to comply with all court requirements if freed. However, he stressed that he considered himself innocent.

On September 25, Sarkozy, 70, who served as French president from 2007 to 2012, was found guilty of complicity in a criminal conspiracy in the Libyan funding case but acquitted of concealing the embezzlement of public funds and passive corruption. However, the court did not establish that the 2007 election campaign was illegally financed. Sarkozy was sentenced to five years in prison and placed in solitary confinement at Paris’ La Sante prison.

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