Sarkozy wants to ‘prove innocence’ after being released from prison

Nicolas Sarkozy has said he wants to prove his innocence after being released from prison while he appeals against his conviction for criminal conspiracy.

- Angelique Chrisafis

After 20 days in jail that he described as “gruelling” and a “nightmare”, the former French president was driven away from La Santé prison in Paris yesterday accompanied by his wife, Carla Bruni.

“The law has been applied. I will now prepare for an appeal,” Sarkozy wrote on social media. “My energy is focused solely on proving my innocence. The truth will prevail.”

Sarkozy went to prison on 21 October, after a Paris court gave him a five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to obtain election campaign funds for his 2007 presidential race from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Sarkozy denies wrongdoing and has appealed against the verdict. A new trial is scheduled for next spring, but judges ruled last month that the former president must go to prison while the appeals process took its course, owing to the “exceptional gravity” of his conviction.

A Paris appeal court granted Sarkozy’s request for release yesterday morning, with strict judicial controls. Sarkozy will be forbidden from talking to any officials from the justice ministry, including the justice minister, Gérald Darmanin.