Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was freed from prison on Monday after a 20-day stay he called a “nightmare,” as a Paris court ruled he could be released while he appeals against his conviction for conspiring to raise funds from Libya. Mr Sarkozy was released from La Sante prison in Paris shortly before 3pm, a source familiar with the case told AFP. The 70-year-old former president, who maintains his innocence, departed in a car with tinted windows, escorted by police motorcyclists. With the appeal case underway, Sarkozy is now presumed innocent again.
A lower court in September found the right-wing politician, who was head of state from 2007 to 2012, guilty of seeking to acquire funding from Moamer Qadhafi’s Libya for his victorious presidential campaign.