Convicted Ex-Leader Placed Under Strict Judicial Supervision After 21 Days
PARIS: Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been released from La Santé Prison and returned to his home in Paris’ 16th arrondissement, less than three weeks after beginning his sentence for his conviction in the Libyan campaign funding case.
The release followed a ruling by the Paris Court of Appeals earlier in the day, which upheld a motion by Sarkozy’s lawyers to release him under judicial supervision pending his appeal. The former President, who served from 2007 to 2012, was transported by car from the prison and quickly entered his residence without making a statement to the large group of reporters who had gathered, with the area cordoned off by police.
Sarkozy, 70, will remain under strict conditions while awaiting his appeal hearing, which is scheduled for March 2026. These conditions include, A ban on leaving France.
A ban on contacting any acting French justice minister, including Gérald Darmanin, who had previously visited him in prison. (Other sources also report a ban on contacting co-defendants and witnesses in the case).
The former President was incarcerated on October 21, 2025, to begin serving a five-year prison sentence (the duration of which was not immediately clear if all was firm or suspended) after being found guilty on September 25 of complicity in a criminal conspiracy related to the alleged illegal financing of his 2007 presidential campaign by the Libyan regime.
He was, however, acquitted of the related charges of concealing the embezzlement of public funds and passive corruption. The court did not establish that the 2007 election campaign was illegally financed. Sarkozy spent 21 days in solitary confinement before his release under supervision was granted.
