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Angelique Chrisafis<\/p>\nFormer French president Nicolas Sarkozy is released from prison – storyAngelique Chrisafis<\/p>\n
in Paris<\/p>\n
The former French president Nicolas Sarkozy<\/a> has been released from prison after a judge ruled he could serve the rest of his sentence at home.<\/p>\n Sarkozy was driven by car from La Sant\u00e9 prison in Paris accompanied by his wife, the singer Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, and arrived at his home in the west of the city without making a public comment.<\/p>\n Earlier, he had told a Paris appeals court by video link that his three weeks in jail had been \u201cgruelling\u201d and a \u201cnightmare\u201d.<\/p>\n Sarkozy went to prison on 21 October, after a Paris court gave him a five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy<\/a> over a scheme to obtain election campaign funds for his 2007 presidential race from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.<\/p>\n He denies wrongdoing and has appealed against that verdict, with a fresh trial on appeal scheduled for next spring. Judges ruled last month that, because of the \u201cexceptional gravity\u201d of his conviction, he must go to prison while the appeals process took its course.<\/p>\n A Paris appeal court on Monday granted Sarkozy\u2019s request for release to serve his sentence at home with strict judicial controls. Under the terms of his release, Sarkozy will be forbidden from talking to any officials from the justice ministry, including the justice minister, G\u00e9rald Darmanin.<\/p>\n Darmanin, who once considered Sarkozy as his mentor before rejoining Emmanuel Macron\u2019s centrist party in 2017, visited the former president in prison last month. Some French magistrates criticised the move as undermining the independence of judges.<\/p>\n Sarkozy will also be forbidden from talking to others involved in the case, and he will be banned from leaving France<\/a>.<\/p>\n At the hearing on Monday morning, Sarkozy, dressed in a navy blue suit, appeared on camera from prison, seated at a table with his lawyers beside him. He told the court: \u201cI want to pay tribute to all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this nightmare bearable \u2013 because it is a nightmare.\u201d<\/p>\n He said: \u201cI never had any idea or intention to ask Mr Gaddafi for any kind of financing \u2026 I will never confess to something I didn\u2019t do \u2026 I never imagined that at 70 years of age, I\u2019d be in prison. It\u2019s an ordeal that has been imposed on me. I confess it\u2019s hard, it\u2019s very hard. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it\u2019s gruelling.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n Palestinian man dismissed from Gaza says he’s left penniless after losing access to bank account with severance pay A Palestinian man who was evacuated from Gaza to Egypt during the way and then dismissed by the EU after nearly 20 years service has said he has been left penniless unable to access a severance payment made by Brussels.<\/p>\n Mohammad Baraka, who is suing the EU over alleged breach of Belgian law and discrimination, was told he would be paid \u20ac54,025.45 euro as a \u201ccomprehensive financial and welfare severance package following the end of his contract\u201d in June.<\/p>\n However, the payment was made in a single tranche, raising red flags of a potential corrupt payment, under controls put in place by the Palestinian Monetary Authority in cooperation with the Israeli ministry of finance under the Oslo Agreements on joint coordination between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.<\/p>\n Under the rules no more than $10,000 can be transferred in a single transaction.<\/p>\n Baraka says he has just $3 in his bank account, no access to the money and has had no contact from the EU over his welfare.<\/p>\n He has now legal right to live in Egypt or to receive hospital care for his seriously ill wife, or the right to send his children to school.<\/p>\n \u201cSince I arrived in Egypt, they promised me dozens of times, \u2018Don\u2019t worry, we are with you, we will support and help you,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He said:<\/p>\n \u201cMy bank account in Gaza is active and functions without problems.<\/p>\n However, the bank is used to receiving my regular monthly salary.<\/p>\n Suddenly, in July, they transferred a lump sum of \u20ac54,000 to my Gaza bank account without informing me in advance.<\/p>\n The bank immediately froze the amount, and it remains blocked without explanation.<\/p>\n I have no money, no work permit, and no one to support me here in Egypt.<\/p>\n My family in Gaza lives in tents without homes or food, and they cannot even help themselves.<\/p>\n Even the amount of 54,000 euros, which is my right, I have not received to be able to live with a little human dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked about the situation on Monday, the EU said it could not comment on the payment.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.01 EST<\/p>\n Netherlands presses on with plan to ban imports from illegal Israeli settlements in Jerusalem<\/p>\n The Netherlands is still working on legislation to bar imports from illegal settlements in occupied Palestine, even though it has paused a push for broader sanctions<\/a> on Israel after last month\u2019s ceasefire deal in Gaza, the foreign minister has said during a visit to the region.<\/p>\n Dutch foreign minister David van Weel Photograph: Hollandse Hoogte\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n The partial ban was a response to settlement expansion and spiralling Israeli violence against Palestinians that threatened the viability of the two-state solution, David van Weel said after visiting an area in the West Bank that had been targeted by settlers.<\/p>\n \u201cNow we deem it is not a time to increase sanctions on Israel because we want to see the peace plan implemented and we want to also encourage Israel to play a positive part in this,\u201d he told the Guardian in an interview.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the same time, we\u2019re not blind to any movements on the West Bank that might move the two-state solution further (away).\u201d<\/p>\n Five EU countries have announced plans to impose sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, where soldiers and settlers have killed more than 200 Palestinians this year, including 40 children.<\/p>\n Spain and Slovenia have banned exports from settlements; Ireland and Belgium<\/a> are working on legislation and implementation. Belgium and Spain have cut consular services to settlement residents.<\/p>\n Van Weel said drawing up the legislation had been slow and difficult since trade policy was mostly controlled by the EU.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not easy to make a carve-out,\u201d he said. \u201cWe cannot just stop [all imports from illegal settlements] immediately because there is currently no legal basis for that. We are trying to make new policy now, then it has to go through parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Man goes on trial in Germany over deadly Christmas market car attack in Berlin<\/p>\n A man has gone on trial in the eastern German city of Magdeburg on charges of murdering six people and attempting to murder hundreds more by deliberately ploughing his SUV into a packed Christmas market last December.<\/p>\n Defendant Taleb al-Abdulmohsen (L) arrives for the first day of his trial for murder in the 2024 Magdeburg Christmas market attack. Photograph: Jens Schlueter\/EPA<\/p>\n Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, 51, a psychiatrist from Saudi Arabia, appeared in court on Monday wearing handcuffs and with his feet shackled, accompanied by armed police. He will be held in a bullet-proof glass case throughout the trial.<\/p>\n In a lengthy indictment read out over several hours, the chief public prosecutor, Matthias B\u00f6ttcher, said the defendant had acted \u201cwith the intention of killing an indeterminately large number of people\u201d, when, on 20 December 2024, he \u201cdeliberately drove his 2-tonne, 340-horsepower car into a large number of pedestrians\u201d.<\/p>\n In what B\u00f6ttcher described as a carefully planned attack that took place between 7.02pm and 7.04pm, the majority of deaths occurred within a few seconds.<\/p>\n A nine-year-old boy and five women, aged between 45 and 75, were killed. A further 338 people were injured, 31 of them in a way prosecutors describe as life-changing.<\/p>\n Abdulmohsen was described as a critic of Islam and a supporter of far-right views and radical conspiracy theories who appeared to have been motivated by \u201cpersonal resentment\u201d and a sense of \u201cperceived injustice\u201d after a legal dispute.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> As there\u2019s no sign of Sarkozy coming planning to come out to talk to reporters, let\u2019s take a quick look at other stories across Europe<\/a> instead.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy is released from prison – story in Paris<\/p>\n The former French president Nicolas Sarkozy<\/a> has been released from prison after a judge ruled he could serve the rest of his sentence at home.<\/p>\n Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy arriving at his residence in Paris, France. Photograph: Jumeau Alexis\/ABACA\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n Sarkozy was driven by car from La Sant\u00e9 prison in Paris accompanied by his wife, the singer Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, and arrived at his home in the west of the city without making a public comment.<\/p>\n Earlier, he had told a Paris appeals court by video link that his three weeks in jail had been \u201cgruelling\u201d and a \u201cnightmare\u201d.<\/p>\n Sarkozy went to prison on 21 October, after a Paris court gave him a five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy<\/a> over a scheme to obtain election campaign funds for his 2007 presidential race from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.<\/p>\n He denies wrongdoing and has appealed against that verdict, with a fresh trial on appeal scheduled for next spring. Judges ruled last month that, because of the \u201cexceptional gravity\u201d of his conviction, he must go to prison while the appeals process took its course.<\/p>\n A Paris appeal court on Monday granted Sarkozy\u2019s request for release to serve his sentence at home with strict judicial controls. Under the terms of his release, Sarkozy will be forbidden from talking to any officials from the justice ministry, including the justice minister, G\u00e9rald Darmanin.<\/p>\n Darmanin, who once considered Sarkozy as his mentor before rejoining Emmanuel Macron\u2019s centrist party in 2017, visited the former president in prison last month. Some French magistrates criticised the move as undermining the independence of judges.<\/p>\n Sarkozy will also be forbidden from talking to others involved in the case, and he will be banned from leaving France<\/a>.<\/p>\n At the hearing on Monday morning, Sarkozy, dressed in a navy blue suit, appeared on camera from prison, seated at a table with his lawyers beside him. He told the court: \u201cI want to pay tribute to all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this nightmare bearable \u2013 because it is a nightmare.\u201d<\/p>\n He said: \u201cI never had any idea or intention to ask Mr Gaddafi for any kind of financing \u2026 I will never confess to something I didn\u2019t do \u2026 I never imagined that at 70 years of age, I\u2019d be in prison. It\u2019s an ordeal that has been imposed on me. I confess it\u2019s hard, it\u2019s very hard. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it\u2019s gruelling.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a> Let\u2019s now cross to our Paris correspondent, Angelique Chrisafis, for her take on what happened today in Paris.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Two of Sarkozy\u2019s sons \u2013 Jean and Pierre \u2013 were spotted near the former president\u2019s residence in Paris.<\/p>\n Jean Sarkozy at Nicolas Sarkozy’s residence in Paris, France. Photograph: Jumeau Alexis\/ABACA\/ShutterstockJean Sarkozy and Pierre Sarkozy, sons of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, are seen in Paris. Photograph: Jeanne Accorsini\/SIPA\/ShutterstockShare<\/a><\/p>\n And here\u2019s the man himself, arriving back at his apartment in west Paris.<\/p>\n Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy seen arriving at his flat in west Paris after leaving La Sante Prison earlier today. Photograph: Jumeau Alexis\/ABACA\/ShutterstockShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a009.25 EST<\/p>\n And Sarkozy has just arrived at his apartment, with his and police cars going past a group of reporters and other people gathered outside, with heavy police presence at the scene.<\/p>\n A screengrab from France Info\u2019s coverage of Sarkozy\u2019s return home after he was released from jail in Paris, France. Photograph: France Info\/YouTubeShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a009.18 EST<\/p>\n Sarkozy – joined by his wife, Carla Bruni, as reported by Le Figaro<\/a> \u2013 is now understood to be en route to his apartment in west Paris.<\/p>\n We should get a first glimpse of the former president when he gets there.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Car believed to be carrying Sarkozy leaves La Sant\u00e9 Prison<\/p>\n A car believed to be carrying Sarkozy has been reported leaving La Sant\u00e9 Prison.<\/p>\n Vehicles believed to be carrying former French President Nicolas Sarkozy leave the Sante prison in Paris, France. Photograph: Beno\u00eet Tessier\/ReutersShare<\/a>Sarkozy’s appeal trial expected in March<\/p>\n The formal appeal trial (13:49<\/a>) is expected to begin in March, with the dates expected to be confirmed later this week, BFM TV noted.<\/a><\/p>\n Share<\/a>Sarkozy expected to be released this afternoon We are expecting Sarkozy to be released from the La Sant\u00e9 Prison this afternoon, according to French reporters outside the prison.<\/p>\n I will make sure to bring you the latest when it happens, including pictures and potential quotes from the former president.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a008.54 EST<\/p>\n ‘Long live freedom!’ Sarkozy’s son says<\/p>\n Nicolas Sarkozy\u2019s son, Louis Sarkozy, has welcomed the court\u2019s decision by posting<\/a> a picture from his childhood with his dad, accompanied by a brief comment: \u201cLong live freedom!\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Prison release just first step as defence eyes appeal process next, Sarkozy’s lawyer says<\/p>\n Sarkozy\u2019s lawyer Christophe Ingrain offered a very brief response to the verdict, saying that today\u2019s decision was just the first step, and that \u201cthe next step is the appeal trial.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd our job now, for Nicolas Sarkozy<\/a> and for us, is to prepare for that appeal hearing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1390.jpg\")
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy arriving at his residence in Paris, France. Photograph: Jumeau Alexis\/ABACA\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n![\"Lisa](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Lisa-OCarroll-byline-004.jpg\")
Lisa O\u2019Carroll<\/p>\n![\"Emma](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Emma_Graham-Harrison,_L.png\")
Emma Graham-Harrison<\/p>\n![\"Kate](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Kate_Connolly,_L.png\")
Kate Connolly<\/p>\n![\"Jakub](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Jakub_Krupa.png\")
Jakub Krupa<\/p>\nAngelique Chrisafis<\/p>\nJakub Krupa<\/p>\nJakub Krupa<\/p>\n