Sarkozy Freed After Three Weeks in Prison

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been released from prison just three weeks into his five-year

sarah

Nov 10, 2025 - 18:53

Sarkozy Freed After Three Weeks in Prison

Sarkozy told a court on Monday that the "crazy idea" of asking the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi for money had never crossed his mind.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy will be released early from prison three weeks after being sentenced to five years for his involvement in a criminal conspiracy.

He will remain under strict judicial supervision and will be banned from leaving France.

On October 21, the 70-year-old former right-wing president was sentenced to five years in prison for conspiring to raise funds for his 2007 election campaign by accepting money from the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

His lawyers immediately filed an appeal against his conviction, which is scheduled to be heard next March.

Sarkozy could be released from La Santé prison as early as Monday evening.

Speaking via video link from a Paris court, Sarkozy described his time in solitary confinement as "harsh" and "a nightmare."

Prosecutor Damien Brunet recommended that Sarkozy's request for release be granted, but that the former president be prohibited from contacting other witnesses in the so-called "Libyan dossier."

Sarkozy, who has always denied any wrongdoing, told the court via video link that the "crazy idea" of asking Gaddafi for money had never crossed his mind and said he would "never accept anything I didn't do."

Sarkozy also praised the prison staff who made his time in prison "bearable." He said, "They showed extraordinary humanity."

Sarkozy's wife, singer and model Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, and two of the former president's sons were present in the courtroom to support him. Nicolas Sarkozy is the first former French leader to be imprisoned since Philippe Pétain, the Nazi collaborator leader during World War II, was jailed for treason in 1945.

Since arriving in prison, Sarkozy has been held in a cell in an isolation wing. Two bodyguards are stationed in nearby cells.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said in October, "The former president of the Republic is entitled to security because of his position." He added that "there are clearly threats against him."

Sarkozy served as president from 2007 to 2012. He has faced criminal investigations since leaving office and, in a separate case last December, was convicted of attempting to bribe a magistrate to obtain confidential information, after which he had to wear an electronic tag on his ankle for several months.