Nicolas Sarkozy will be released from La Santé prison in Paris, after twenty days of pre-trial detention, the Paris Court of Appeal decided on Monday 10 November. The public prosecutor’s office has requested his release under judicial supervision.
In the hearing to examine the request for release, Nicolas Sarkozy stated his detention “It’s difficult. It’s very difficult, of course for any prisoner, in fact I find it very tiring”adding that he wanted to pay tribute to the prison staff who “very human and makes this nightmare, because it is a nightmare, bearable”he continued, with his face covered, appearing via videoconference from Prison Health. He doesn’t have either “Imagine waiting 70 years to experience prison”.
The former President of the Republic was sentenced, on September 25, to five years in prison with a warrant of execution accompanied by provisional execution for criminal conspiracy in the case of Libyan financing of his presidential campaign as the Paris criminal court found him guilty of deliberately allowing his collaborators to approach Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya to request secret funding for his campaign. He appealed.
This is an unprecedented detention of a former president in the history of the French Republic and has sparked heated debate. His detention was also a first in the European Union, where no former head of state has ever been jailed.
More than a sentence, the arrest warrant that sent him to prison, without appeal, is something that raises eyebrows. For the judge, this was justified by “Amazing Gravity” fact. For Nicolas Sarkozy, he is motivated by “hate”. His lawyer then applied for release within minutes of him being taken into custody.
The criteria for release are different from detention
The appeals court judge did not rely on the request for acquittal with the same criteria as a deposit warrant. Nicolas Sarkozy’s appeal places his detention within the criteria for pre-trial detention, which is different from the criteria for serving a sentence. According to article 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, further detention of a person is only possible if he“just means” to protect evidence, to prevent pressure or consultation, to prevent leakage or recurrence, or to protect it.
While in prison, the former president was placed in solitary confinement, except for two security officers settle in neighboring cells. Provisions are justified by “status” and it “threats haunt him”according to the Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez.
At the end of October, Nicolas Sarkozy received a visit from the Minister of Justice, Gérald Darmanin, an interview that drew criticism, especially from judges. In a rare position, France’s top prosecutor, Rémy Heitz, sees him as a “risk of obstacles to sobriety” and therefore “undermining the independence of judges” before the appeal hearing.
An appeal hearing is expected to take place in March
Among three people sentenced with detention warrants based on a Sept. 25 ruling, the appeals court has released former banker Wahib Nacer, 81, under judicial supervision, but kept middleman Alexandre Djouhri in custody. For the latter, sentenced to six years in prison with immediate detention and a fine of 3 million euros, the court considered that he provided bail. “very weak” facing flight risks.
In his case, justice also took that into consideration “risk of pressure continues” to witnesses in the case, especially Muammar Gaddafi’s former chief of staff, Bechir Saleh, who was convicted in the case and is on the run.
In both cases, President Olivier Géron had clarified this earlier in deciding on the release requests “The assessment criteria of the appellate court are certainly different from the assessment criteria of the court of first instance” and that these decisions in no way predicted the outcome of the appeal hearing over which he was to preside.
Highly anticipated, this new trial in Libya will be held starting in March, although the exact date has not yet been officially announced.
