France's former president Nicolas Sarkozy leaves his home to present himself to La Santé Prison, on October 21, 2025. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
France's former president Nicolas Sarkozy will go on trial on appeal over Libyan campaign-funding allegations starting March 16, a Paris court said on Thursday, November 13. 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 Muammar Gaddafi's Libya for the campaign that saw him elected.
Sarkozy was sentenced to five years behind bars but left La Santé prison in Paris on Monday after serving just 20 days, following a judge's order for his release. The 70-year-old had immediately appealed, but the lower court ordered him jailed, citing the "exceptional gravity" of the conviction.
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Nicolas Sarkozy leaves jail under strict judicial supervision
