Nicolas Sarkozy says he wants to ‘prove his innocence’ as he is released from prison

Nicolas Sarkozy has said he wants to “prove his innocence” after being released from prison while he appeals against his conviction for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to obtain election campaign funds from Libya.

After 20 days in jail that he had earlier described as “gruelling” and a “nightmare”, the former French president was driven away from La Santé prison in Paris on Monday accompanied by his wife, the singer Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.

The 70-year-old wrote on social media: “The law has been applied. I will now prepare for an appeal. My energy is focused solely on proving my innocence. The truth will prevail.”

Sarkozy went to prison on 21 October, after a Paris court gave him a five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to obtain election campaign funds for his 2007 presidential race from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

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 “exceptional gravity” of his conviction, he must go to prison while the appeals process took its course.

A Paris appeal court on Monday granted Sarkozy’s request for release, however. Under the terms of his release, Sarkozy will be forbidden from talking to any officials from the justice ministry, including the justice minister, Gérald Darmanin.

Darmanin, who once considered Sarkozy as his mentor before rejoining Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party in 2017, visited the former president in prison last month. Some French magistrates criticised the move as undermining the independence of judges.

Sarkozy will also be forbidden from talking to others involved in the case, and will be banned from leaving France.

Speaking by video link to the appeal court 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: “I want to pay tribute to all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this nightmare bearable – because it is a nightmare.”

He added: “I never had any idea or intention to ask Mr Gaddafi for any kind of financing … I will never confess to something I didn’t do … I never imagined that at 70 years of age, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal that has been imposed on me. I confess it’s hard, it’s very hard. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.”

Sarkozy was held in solitary confinement for his own security, in an individual cell of about 9 sq metres with his own shower and toilet. Two bodyguards occupied a neighbouring cell to ensure his safety. The French news weekly Le Point reported that he had been eating only yoghurts in prison as he feared any food might have been spat on. He had facilities to cook for himself but refused this, the magazine reported, citing unnamed sources.

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Christophe Ingrain, who had visited him every day, said Sarkozy would be safer out of prison than inside. “He has faced death threats, has heard screaming at night and the urgent intervention in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner self-harmed.”

View image in fullscreen Carla Bruni-Sarkozy was in court for the release request hearing on Monday morning, along with Sarkozy’s two oldest sons. Photograph: Raphaël Lafargue/ABACA/Shutterstock

Sarkozy, who served as France’s rightwing president between 2007 and 2012, was the first former head of an EU country to serve time in prison, and the first French postwar leader to go behind bars.

Bruno Retailleau, the head of Sarkozy’s rightwing party, Les Républicains, wrote on social media that Sarkozy’s release had been expected, saying he had “faced this ordeal with courage and determination.”

skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to This is Europe Free weekly newsletter The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion

Sarkozy’s 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. “No letter will go unanswered,” his account said. “The end of the story has not yet been written.”

During his three-month trial, the public prosecutor told the court that Sarkozy entered into a “Faustian pact of corruption with one of the most unspeakable dictators of the last 30 years” to gain election funding from Gaddafi.

Sarkozy denied wrongdoing and said he was not part of a criminal conspiracy to seek election funding from Libya.

He was acquitted of three separate charges of corruption, misuse of Libyan public funds and illegal election campaign funding. After the state prosecutor appealed against the acquittals, Sarkozy will be retried on all the charges next year, including criminal conspiracy.

Although the allegations of a secret campaign funding pact with the Libyan regime formed the biggest corruption trial Sarkozy had faced, he had already been convicted in two separate cases and stripped of France’s highest distinction, the Légion d’honneur.

Sarkozy had previously become the first former French head of state forced to wear an electronic tag after being convicted in a separate case of corruption and influence-peddling over illegal attempts to secure favours from a judge.

In that case, he was given a one-year jail term but was able to serve it with an electronic ankle tag. He wore the tag for three months before being granted conditional release.