The Paris Court of Appeal ordered the release of Nicolas Sarkozy at midday on Monday, following the end of the hearing of the former President of the French Republic. The former president of France left prison a little after 4 p.m. (local time), accompanied by Carla Bruni.

Sarkozy — who during the hearing described the 20 days he remained in prison (since 21 October) as a “nightmare” — will be under judicial supervision, and he is banned from leaving French territory.

In addition, the court prohibited Sarkozy from having any communication with the Justice Minister, Gérald Darmanin, who had visited him in prison at the end of October. That meeting had provoked criticism, mainly from judges.

“This decision is a normal application of the law. It is the first step. The next step is the second-instance trial,” one of Nicolas Sarkozy’s lawyers stressed as he left the courtroom in Paris.

Earlier, the prosecutor had proposed to the Paris Court of Appeal that the former president of France be released.

According to the prosecutor’s reasoning, Damien Brinet, “the exceptional seriousness of the facts and the severity of the sentence should not be taken into account. Only the criteria of Article 144 (of the Code of Criminal Procedure) matter.”

As prosecutor Damien Brinet explained, the risks of coordinating with potential accomplices or exerting pressure on witnesses “support the request that (Sarkozy) be placed under judicial supervision.”

70-year-old Sarkozy was imprisoned on 21 October, after the court found him guilty of criminal conspiracy, due to attempts by close associates to secure financing for his 2007 presidential campaign from then Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Nicolas Sarkozy’s son, Louis, welcomed the court’s decision, posting on X a childhood photograph with his father accompanied by a short comment: “Long live freedom!”