Former president is seeking to be released pending his appeal against a five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy
A French court is expected to decide today on whether the country’s former president Nicolas Sarkozy could be released from jail pending his appeal against a five-year sentence over criminal conspiracy to obtain election campaign funds from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Sarkozy has been in jail since 21 October, but his lawyers immediately requested that he be released pending trial, with an ankle tag or a house arrest as other available options.
He is expected to appear in court via video call.
AFP noted that the former president last month received a visit from justice minister Gérald Darmanin, despite warnings from France’s top prosecutor Remy Heitz that it risked “undermining the independence of magistrates” before the appeals trial.
