Nicolas Sarkozy. Archive photo Bertrand Guay/AFP/dpa/picture alliance.
On Monday, November 10, the Paris Court of Appeal decided to place Nicolas Sarkozy under judicial supervision, allowing him to leave prison, according to media reports.
The court granted the prosecutor's request during a hearing on the appeal of the 70-year-old Sarkozy's lawyers, who had been behind bars for nearly three weeks.
Now the former president, convicted of illegal financing of his election campaign, is required to wear an electronic bracelet on his ankle and is prohibited from communicating with witnesses and defendants in his case.
During the video conference hearing, Sarkozy described his imprisonment as "very difficult" and "exhausting." The former president's lawyers insisted on his early release.
Sarkozy, sentenced to five years in prison at the end of September, began serving his sentence on October 21 at the Paris Santé prison, where he was placed in a solitary cell measuring 9 square meters. He could receive visitors three times a week and had access to a mobile phone, but only for calls to approved numbers. He was under guard in prison.
Sarkozy was found guilty of conspiracy related to the illegal financing of his 2007 election campaign. According to the prosecution, former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi allocated about 50 million euros to support this campaign. However, on other charges, including embezzlement of public funds and passive corruption, Sarkozy was acquitted.
Additionally, the French authorities stripped him of his honors of the Legion of Honor and the Order of Merit, marking the first case of this kind since 1945.
