"A Paris appeals court on Monday decided to release former French President Nicolas Sarkozy from prison three weeks into a five-year sentence, and place him under judicial supervision. He left La Sante prison in Paris later Monday afternoon. Earlier in the day, Sarkozy had described how his imprisonment was a "nightmare" as the appeal court examined his request for his release pending an appeals trial after being convicted of criminal conspiracy."
"Labeled the "Libyan case" by French media, the accusations have been kicking around since 2011, when a Libyan news outlet published a story about the campaign financing. The allegations gained traction in 2016, when Takieddine said he had personally delivered suitcases full of cash from Libyan officials to the French Interior Ministry. Sarkozy, who was president of France from 2007 to 2012, has already been convicted of corruption and influence peddling in unrelated cases."
"What did Sarkozy say? The 70-year-old appeared via video call from prison, wearing a dark blue jacket and flanked by lawyers. "It's hard, very hard, certainly for any prisoner. I would even say it's grueling," he told the court, but that prison staff had made "this nightmare... bearable." Prosecutor Damien Brunet had asked the court to agree to Sarkozy's request for release."
Nicolas Sarkozy was released from La Santé prison under judicial supervision three weeks into a five-year sentence after a Paris appeals court decision. A lower court in September found him guilty of seeking to acquire funding from Moammar Gadhafi's Libya ahead of his 2007 election bid and convicted him of criminal conspiracy without ruling that he received or used the funds. He entered jail on October 21 and became the first former head of an EU member state to be incarcerated. The allegations date to 2011 and gained traction in 2016 when Takieddine said he delivered suitcases of cash. Sarkozy has prior convictions for corruption and influence peddling in unrelated cases.
Read at www.dw.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]