Crystal Dike
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy is set to be released early from prison, just three weeks into his five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy linked to alleged Libyan campaign financing.
Nicolas Sarkozy, 70, could leave La Santé prison in Paris as early as Monday evening, under strict judicial supervision that bars him from leaving France or contacting witnesses in the so-called “Libyan dossier.”
The former centre-right president was sentenced on 21 October to five years in prison for conspiring to fund his 2007 presidential campaign with money from late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. His lawyers immediately requested his release, pending an appeal scheduled for March 2026.
Speaking to a Paris court via video link, Nicolas Sarkozy described his time in solitary confinement as “gruelling” and “a nightmare,” while praising prison staff for their “exceptional humanity.”
Public prosecutor Damien Brunet recommended that Nicolas Sarkozy be granted early release, with conditions attached. Sarkozy continues to deny any wrongdoing, insisting he never had the “mad idea” of asking Gaddafi for money and would “never admit to something I haven’t done.”
His wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, and two of his sons attended the hearing to support Nicolas Sarkozy.
Nicolas Sarkozy, who served as France’s president from 2007 to 2012, is the first former French leader jailed since World War II, when Philippe Pétain was imprisoned for treason in 1945.
Since entering prison, Nicolas Sarkozy has been held in an isolation wing with two bodyguards in nearby cells for security reasons. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said in October that “there was obviously a threat against him.”
The former president has faced multiple legal troubles since leaving office, including a conviction last December for attempting to bribe a magistrate, for which Nicolas Sarkozy was required to wear an electronic tag.