A glum-looking Carla Bruni was pictured leaving a French court today as her jailed husband Nicolas Sarkozy made a desperate plea to be freed from his ‘gruelling’ time behind bars.
Sarkozy, 70, has served just three weeks of a five-year sentence at La Sante prison in Paris for criminal conspiracy in a scheme to finance his 2007 election campaign with funds from Libya, after striking a deal with the country’s long-time ruler Moammar Gadhafi.
But during Monday’s hearing, Sarkozy, speaking via video conference, complained that life behind bars was a ‘nightmare’.
‘I had never imagined I would experience prison at 70. This ordeal was imposed on me, and I lived through it. It’s hard, very hard,’ he said. ‘I would even say it’s gruelling’.
The former president also paid tribute to prison staff who he said helped life behind bars ‘bearable’.
Sarkozy’s wife, supermodel-turned-singer Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, and two of his sons, attended the hearing at the Paris courthouse.
Bruni was seen donning black sunglasses, a figure-hugging black coat and matching leather boots as she left the court with her head bowed.
The Paris Appeals Court is expected to make a decision early on Monday afternoon that could see Sarkozy released immediately.
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and son Jean Sarkozy leave a Paris court this morning before it decides whether to release Sarkozy from prison
Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, wife of France’s former president Nicolas Sarkozy, leaves the Paris Court of Appeal on November 10, 2025
Sarkozy’s wife, supermodel-turned-singer Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, and two of his sons, attended the hearing at the Paris courthouse
A lower court in September found the right-winger – who was head of state from 2007 to 2012 – guilty of seeking to acquire funding from Moammar Gadhafi’s Libya for the campaign that saw him elected.
Investigators believe that in return, Gadhafi was promised help to restore his international image after Tripoli was blamed for the 1988 bombing of a plane over Lockerbie, Scotland, and another over Niger in 1989, killing hundreds of passengers.
The court convicted Sarkozy of criminal conspiracy over the plan. But it did not conclude that he received or used the funds for his campaign.
Following his arrest, Sarkozy became the first former French head of state in modern times to be sent behind bars after his conviction on September 25.
He vehemently denies any wrongdoing and immediately filed for early release upon his arrest.
Monday’s proceedings, however, did not involve the motives for the sentencing.
Still, Sarkozy told the court he never asked Gadhafi for any financing. ‘I will never admit something I didn’t do,’ he said.
Prosecutor Damien Brunet asked that Sarkozy’s request for release be granted.
‘The risks of collusion and pressure on witnesses justify the request for release under judicial supervision,’ he said.
The lower court in late September ordered Sarkozy to go to jail, even if he appealed, due to the ‘exceptional gravity’ of the conviction.
But the appeals case means that Sarkozy is now presumed innocent again, and the court will therefore be evaluating his need for pre-trial detention.
Under French law, he can only be kept behind bars if no other way can be found to safeguard evidence, prevent witness tampering, stop him from escaping or reoffending, or to protect him.
Otherwise, Sarkozy will be allowed out under judicial control, and perhaps put under house arrest with an electronic ankle tag.
Judges will weigh whether Sarkozy presents a flight risk, might pressure witnesses, or could obstruct justice.
Nicolas Sarkozy kisses his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy before leaving in a car on the day of his incarceration at La Sante prison on October 21, 2025
Sarkozy was incarcerated following a five-year sentence for conspiring to accept laundered cash from the late Libyan dictator, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi
Advocate General Damien Brunet, who represents the public interest, asked for Sarkozy to be released and placed under judicial supervision.
If the request is granted, Sarkozy could leave Paris’ La Santé prison within hours.
The appeals trial is due to take place in March.
The former president has spent just under three weeks in the Paris prison, separated from the general population with two bodyguards occupying a neighbouring cell to ensure his safety.
Prison wardens have said the move is an insult to their profession, but Interior Minister Laurent Nunez has said it is necessary in view of his ‘status’ and ‘the threats against him’.
Sarkozy late last month also received a visit from Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin, despite warnings from France’s top prosecutor Remy Heitz that it risked ‘undermining the independence of magistrates’ before the appeals trial.
His social media account last week posted a video of piles of letters, postcards and packages it said had been sent to him, some including a collage, a chocolate bar or a book.
On the day he entered jail, a large crowd sang the national anthem outside his home and urged him to ‘come back quick’.
The former president, who governed from 2007 to 2012, faces separate proceedings, including a November 26 ruling by France’s highest court over illegal financing of his failed 2012 reelection bid, and an ongoing investigation into alleged witness tampering in the Libya case.
In 2023, he was found guilty of corruption and influence peddling for trying to bribe a magistrate in exchange for information about a legal case in which he was implicated.
France’s highest court, the Court of Cassation, later upheld the verdict.