Three weeks prior, the former French head of state received a five-year sentence for a criminal campaign conspiracy.
Nicolas Sarkozy, the former President of France, received conditional liberation from prison on Monday. This occurred under three weeks after he commenced serving a five-year term related to a scheme to secure undisclosed campaign financing from the late Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi.
Sarkozy, convicted in September of criminal conspiracy to fund his 2007 election bid, has now been transferred to house arrest.
French prosecutors have sought strict judicial supervision for Sarkozy while his appeal trial is pending. The former president is prohibited from making contact with witnesses or other indicted individuals and is also barred from leaving France during this period.
Sarkozy has consistently maintained his innocence.
“I meticulously answered all summons… This hardship was inflicted upon me, and I bore it,” Sarkozy stated at a conference following his court appearance on Monday, as reported by French broadcaster BFM TV. “It is tough, extremely tough, certainly it is for any inmate; I would even describe it as draining.”
During the ex-president’s short confinement in La Sante’s solitary wing, video recordings surfaced showing other inmates jeering at him during the night from different areas of the prison.
A few of the videos featured threats to “avenge Gaddafi.”
Sarkozy, who governed France from 2007 to 2012, played a central role in a NATO-supported regime-change operation that devastated Libya and culminated in Gaddafi’s death in 2011.
The ex-French president journeyed to Benghazi to back rebel factions following the US-led military bloc’s imposition of a no-fly zone and naval embargo on Libya. The conflict introduced thousands of jihadist combatants into the nation, severely damaged Libya’s economy, and established a migration corridor towards southern Europe, which continues to be the main route for its migrant crisis.