Former French president Sarkozy released from prison after three weeks

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been released from prison, three weeks after spending five years in prison for participating in a criminal conspiracy.

He will be subject to strict judicial control and will be prohibited from leaving France.

Sarkozy’s car was seen leaving La Santé prison in Paris shortly before 15:00 (14:00 GMT), that is, less than an hour and a half after the court approved his early release. Shortly after, he was seen arriving at his home in western Paris.

On October 21, the former center-right president, 70, was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of conspiring to finance his 2007 election campaign with money from the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

His legal team immediately filed a request for his release.

Christophe Engren, one of Sarkozy’s lawyers, praised his client’s release as a “step forward” and said they would now prepare for the appeal trial scheduled for March.

One of the conditions for Sarkozy’s release is that he not contact any Ministry of Justice employee.

During his imprisonment, he was visited by Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin. The visit prompted 30 French lawyers to file a complaint against Darmanin, highlighting what they said was a conflict of interest as Darmanin was a former colleague and friend of Sarkozy.

Speaking before a Paris court via video link, Sarkozy described his time in solitary confinement as “exhausting” and a “nightmare”.

Prosecutor Damien Brunet recommended approving Sarkozy’s request for his release, while preventing the former president from contacting other witnesses in the so-called “Libyan file.”

Sarkozy, who has always denied any wrongdoing, told the court via video link that he had no “crazy idea” to ask Gaddafi for money, and stated that he “would never admit to something I did not do.”

Sarkozy also praised the prison staff who made his time in prison “bearable”. “They showed exceptional humanity,” he added.

Sarkozy’s wife, singer and model Carla Bruni Sarkozy, and two of the former president’s children came to the courtroom to support him.

Sarkozy is the first former French leader to be put behind bars since World War II Nazi collaborator Philippe Pétain was imprisoned for treason in 1945.

Since entering prison, Sarkozy has remained detained in a cell in the isolation ward.

He had a toilet, shower, desk, small electric stove, small TV – for which he paid a monthly fee of €14 (£12) – and the right to a mini-fridge.

He also had the right to information from the outside world and family visits as well as written and telephone contact – but he was in solitary confinement. He was allowed only one hour a day to exercise alone in the ward’s separate courtyard.

Two bodyguards were stationed in nearby cells, and the Interior Minister was Laurent Nunez because of Sarkozy’s status. Nunez said there was a “clear threat against him.”

Sarkozy was president from 2007 to 2012. Since he left office, he has been dogged by criminal investigations and had to wear an electronic tag around his ankle for several months after being convicted last December of trying to bribe a judge to obtain confidential information about a separate case.