Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy Released After 20 Days in Prison
By Muhamad Javed Mushtaq :
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was freed from prison on Monday after a 20-day stay he called a “nightmare,” as a Paris court ruled he could be released while he appeals against his conviction for conspiring to raise funds from Libya.
Mr Sarkozy was released from La Sante prison in Paris shortly before 3pm, a source familiar with the case told AFP.
The 70-year-old former president, who maintains his innocence, departed in a car with tinted windows, escorted by police motorcyclists. With the appeal case underway, Sarkozy is now presumed innocent again.
A lower court in September found the right-wing politician, who was head of state from 2007 to 2012, guilty of seeking to acquire funding from Moamer Qadhafi’s Libya for his victorious presidential campaign.
He was sentenced to five years behind bars and entered jail on Oct 21, becoming the first former head of a European Union state to be incarcerated. His lawyers swiftly sought his release.
During a court hearing earlier on Monday, Mr Sarkozy spoke about his imprisonment via video call from jail. “It’s hard, very hard, certainly for any prisoner,” he said. “I would even say it’s gruelling.”
He thanked the prison staff, whom he said “showed exceptional humanity and made this nightmare — because it is a nightmare — bearable.”
Prosecutors had called for Sarkozy to be freed ahead of the appeal trial, which is scheduled for March. “The risks of collusion and pressure on witnesses justify the request for release under judicial supervision,” said prosecutor Damien Brunet.
The court on Monday banned Sarkozy from leaving France and prohibited him from contacting former Libyan officials and senior French judicial officials, including Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin, who visited Sarkozy in prison last month.
Christophe Ingrain, a member of Sarkozy’s defence team, hailed his client’s release as “a step forward”. His wife, singer and model Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, and two of his sons were in the courtroom to show support.
Sarkozy, a mentor to many conservative politicians, still wields considerable influence on the French right. Laurent Wauquiez, the parliamentary leader of the conservative Republicans, called the release on X “a fair and dignified decision, worthy of a man who has given so much to our country”.
Sarkozy is the first French leader to be incarcerated since Philippe Petain, the Nazi collaborationist head of state jailed after World War II.
He has faced a flurry of legal woes since losing his 2012 reelection bid and has been convicted in two other cases.
In the so-called “Libyan case,” prosecutors said his aides struck a deal with Qadhafi in 2005 to illegally fund his presidential run.
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