France: Former President Nicolas Sarkozy leaves prison after 20 days behind bars

(AFP) Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was released from prison Monday after spending 20 days behind bars following a conviction for illicit association and will await trial free on appeal.

Sarkozy on Oct. 21 became the first French head of state to end up behind bars since the end of World War II and the first from a country already in the European Union.

But on the same day he requested his conditional release, as allowed by law for those over 70, and this Monday the Paris appeals court accepted it, but imposed judicial control measures and a ban on leaving the country.

The 70-year-old conservative politician left Santé Prison in Paris in the early afternoon aboard a vehicle with tinted windows and escorted by police, a source close to the case confirmed.

During the examination of his petition hours earlier, the former president, who appeared via videoconference wearing a dark blue jacket, sweater and shirt, said his time in prison was a "nightmare" and thanked the prison staff for making it "bearable."

"It's very hard, very hard. It certainly is for any detainee. I would even say it's exhausting," Sarkozy told the court, which was attended by his wife, singer Carla Bruni, and two of his children, an AFP reporter said.

The French right-wing leader has been in solitary confinement in the Paris jail since Oct. 21, with two policemen installed in the neighboring cell to ensure his protection.

His lawyer, Christophe Ingrain, argued that his stay in prison constituted a "threat" to his client. The public prosecutor's office was also in favor of releasing him, but with judicial control measures.