Ex-French president Nicolas Sarkozy released from prison

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been freed from jail pending his appeal against his conviction for conspiring to raise funds from Libya.

The 70-year-old's black car with tinted windows was seen leaving La Sante prison in Paris in the direction of his home in the west of the city.

Sarkozy, who led France from 2007 to 2012, was jailed in October after being convicted of conspiring to raise campaign funds from Libya.

He had asked a court earlier on Monday to be released from jail pending an appeal.

Sarkozy is banned from leaving France and from being in touch with key people, including co-defendants and witnesses in the case, the court said.

During Monday's hearing, Sarkozy, speaking from prison via videolink, argued he has always met all justice requirements.

"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.

An appeals trial is expected to take place later, possibly in the spring.

Sarkozy has consistently denied wrongdoing and has called the case politically motivated.

His release comes after reports he had been the target of death threats in prison less than a day after beginning the five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy.

News of the threats emerged after it was reported that the former president would be assigned two permanent police officers as bodyguards, stationed in nearby cells throughout his time in prison, to ensure he comes to no harm.

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Sarkozy was found guilty in September of criminal conspiracy over the alleged illegal financing of his 2007 presidential election campaign with funds from Libya.

He became the first former French leader to be jailed since Nazi collaborator Marshal Philippe Petain after the Second World War.

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