Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, convicted in the case of financing his election campaign by the Libyan government of Muammar Gaddafi, will be released from serving his sentence.
This decision was made by the Paris Court of Appeal, BMF TV reports.
The countryʼs attorney generalʼs office requested the release. It requested that Sarkozy be placed under judicial control with a ban on contact with other defendants and witnesses in the "Libyan case".
Sarkozy was in custody for only 20 days, starting on October 21.
Nicolas Sarkozyʼs affairs
At the end of September 2025, Sarkozy was found guilty of criminal conspiracy in the case of the financing of his election campaign by the Libyan government of Muammar Gaddafi in 2005-2007. The ex-president was sentenced to five years in prison with a suspended sentence.
This is the third conviction for Sarkozy. He was also tried for attempting to obtain secret information from Gilbert Azibert, the former prosecutor general at the Court of Cassation, in a case involving illegal financing of his 2007 election campaign by Liliane Bettencourt, co-owner of the French cosmetics company LʼOreal.
In this case, in December 2024, Sarkozy was finally found guilty of influence peddling and corruption and sentenced to three years, two of which were suspended, and one year of house arrest with the wearing of an electronic bracelet. In May 2025, Nicolas Sarkozywas released on parole and the electronic bracelet was removed from him.
And in September 2021, Sarkozy was found guilty of fraud related to the financing of the 2012 election campaign. According to the investigation, Sarkozyʼs team spent €43 million on the election campaign — almost twice the allowed amount.
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