France: Former President Sarkozy's Release from Prison in the Hands of Justice
After twenty days in prison, is release on the horizon? The Paris Court of Appeal is set to review the request for the release of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday morning. He was incarcerated following his conviction in the case concerning the Libyan financing of his presidential campaign.
The request was submitted by his lawyers shortly after his detention at La Santé prison in Paris on October 21. The hearing will begin at 09:30 AM local time (08:30 GMT). The former president is expected to appear via video conference, with a decision anticipated later in the day, according to judicial sources.
If the court grants approval, Nicolas Sarkozy, 70, could be released immediately. When contacted by AFP, his lawyers declined to comment ahead of this critical hearing.
The former champion of the right is imprisoned due to a five-year prison sentence with a mandate for immediate execution for conspiracy in the Libyan trial, marking an unprecedented detention for a former president in the history of the French Republic, which has sparked intense debate.
This also represents a first within the European Union, where no former head of state has ever faced imprisonment.
On September 25, the Paris correctional court found him guilty of knowingly allowing his associates to solicit covert funding from the regime of Muammar Gaddafi for his successful 2007 presidential campaign. He immediately filed an appeal.
More than the conviction itself, it was the mandate for immediate detention that shocked many, as it cannot be appealed. The judges justified it by the "exceptional severity" of the facts, while Sarkozy claimed it was driven by "hatred."
For the request for release, the appellate judges will not rely on the same criteria as those of the detention mandate. Sarkozy's appeal places his incarceration under the standards for provisional detention, which differ from those for the execution of a sentence.
According to Article 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, continued detention is only permissible if it is the "only means" to protect evidence, prevent pressure or collusion, avert flight or recidivism, or ensure his protection.
Otherwise, Sarkozy would be released under judicial supervision, possibly under house arrest with an electronic bracelet.
Meanwhile, in prison, the former president is kept in isolation, but two security officers are positioned in a neighboring cell. This arrangement is justified by "his status" and the "threats against him," according to French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez.
At the end of October, he was visited by the French Justice Minister, Gérald Darmanin, a meeting that drew criticism from some magistrates.
In a rare statement, France's top prosecutor, Rémy Heitz, warned of a "risk of obstructing serenity" and thus "a threat to the independence of the magistrates" ahead of the appeal trial.
Among the three individuals sentenced with a detention mandate by the September 25 ruling, the appellate court has already released former banker Wahib Nacer, 81, under judicial supervision, but has kept intermediary Alexandre Djouhri in detention.
For Djouhri, who received a six-year prison sentence with immediate incarceration and a three-million-euro fine, the court considered that he posed "particularly weak" guarantees against the risk of flight.
In his case, the court also determined that "the risks of pressure continue to exist" on witnesses in the case, particularly former Gaddafi chief of staff Bechir Saleh, who has been convicted in the case and is currently at large.
In both cases, President Olivier Géron clarified beforehand that when ruling on a request for release, "the criteria for assessment by the appellate jurisdiction are necessarily different from those of the first-degree jurisdiction" and that these decisions do not presage the outcome of the appeal trial, which he is set to oversee.
This highly anticipated new Libyan trial is expected to begin in March, although specific dates have yet to be officially announced. They should be communicated to the lawyers on Thursday during a court meeting regarding this matter, sources close to the case informed AFP.
© Agence France-Presse
