Nicolas Sarkozy will be released early — here's why

In an unexpected decision, the Paris court ruled that former president Nicolas Sarkozy would be released from prison early. Instead of remaining imprisoned, the politician was given "judicial supervision" pending his appeal.

This was reported by The Guardian.

Details of the case

The first to react to the news was Sarkozy's son, Louis. He posted an archival photo of himself as a child with his father on social media and captioned it, "Long live freedom!"

The former president's lawyer, Christophe Ingrain, called the release "the first step" and emphasized that the next step will be an appellate hearing.

"The next step is the appeal trial," he added.

Another lawyer, Jean-Michel Darrois, described the difficult conditions under which Sarkozy was imprisoned. The isolation was hard on the former president, and he spent his time in prison anxious. According to Ingrain, Sarkozy was threatened, heard screams at night, and witnessed guards intervening when another prisoner harmed himself.

Sarkozy was held in a nine-square-meter cell with a private shower and toilet. For his safety, two guards were constantly stationed in the neighboring cell.

According to the French weekly magazine Le Point, Sarkozy did not trust the prison food and mainly ate yogurt, fearing possible altercations with other inmates. They even offered him the opportunity to cook for himself, but he declined.

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