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Imprisoned former French president Nicolas Sarkozy is set to walk free later today after a three-week prison stint.
The 70-year-old begged judges at an appeal hearing today to release him from ‘a nightmare’ following three weeks in La Santé, the high-security jail in Paris.
After his release, he will wear an electronic tag while living at his £5million home with his third wife, the former supermodel and pop singer, Carla Bruni, 57, and their 14-year-old daughter, Giulia Sarkozy.
Sarkozy has spent three weeks of a five-year sentence inside, after being found guilty of plotting to take millions in laundered cash from the late Libyan dictator, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
The Public Prosecutor emphasised ‘the extreme seriousness of the offences and the severity of the sentence’ but stated that the Code of Criminal Procedure allowed for Sarkozy’s early release.
What has he said about his time in La Santé?
Sarkozy has been continually threatened by other prisoners in La Santé, and has been suffering ill health while surviving on a diet of yoghurt.
He told the court: ‘It’s hard, it’s very hard. I want everyone to be convinced of one thing – I never had the crazy idea of asking Mr Gaddafi for any funding whatsoever. I will never confess to something I didn’t do.’
Sarkozy described himself as a model of behaviour, and said he should be let out for good behaviour alone.
‘I scrupulously responded to all summonses. I never imagined I would have to wait 70 years to experience prison,’ he said.
‘This ordeal was imposed upon me – I endured it. It’s hard, it’s very hard. I love my country, my family is in France, I fight for the truth to prevail.’
Sarkozy also thanked prison staff, saying they ‘showed exceptional humanity and made this nightmare bearable.’
Why was Sarkozy in jail?
Sarkozy was found guilty of accepting millions in illegal cash from Colonel Gaddafi, so as to win office for five years, between 2007 and 2012.
He is the first French head of state to be jailed since the end of the Second World War.
Beyond his five-year term, he has also been convicted of two earlier offences, while facing further criminal enquiries.
Those who have spent time at La Santé – which means Health, include notorious terrorists and armed robbers such as Carlos the Jackal (Illich Ramírez Sanchez) and armed robber, Jacques Mesrine.
He is now the first French head of state to go to a prison cell since Marshall Philippe Pétain, the wartime Nazi collaborator.
Carla Bruni herself was accused of being part of a £4million campaign dubbed ‘Operation Save Sarko’ – a complex and illegal plan to try to keep her husband out of jail.
She has been charged with a range of corruption offences, including ‘witness tampering in an organised gang’, and could be imprisoned for up to 10 years if found guilty in a separate trial.
Like her husband, Ms Bruni denies any wrongdoing.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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