Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s request for release from prison will be considered by the courts on November 10, according to information gathered by AFP today from a judicial source.

The 70-year-old Sarkozy started from October 21 to serve the five-year prison sentence imposed on him. On September 25, the Paris Criminal Court sentenced him to five years in prison, finding him guilty of financing his election campaign from the regime of Muammar Gaddafi in 2007.

The former president, who is being held in La Sade prison in Paris, immediately filed for parole on the day of his incarceration.

Sarkozy has appealed the ruling and a new trial is expected to start in March, although the dates have yet to be officially set.

More than the conviction itself, it was the arrest warrant that sent him to prison that caused general consternation. The judges justified this warrant citing the “extreme seriousness” of the charges. For Sarkozy, the motivation behind it was “hate”.

This criterion of the seriousness of the acts, which are likely to “disturb public order”, cannot be taken into account in the consideration of Sarkozy’s release.

His continued detention is now only possible if it is the “only means” of preserving evidence, preventing pressure or collusion between the perpetrators, preventing him from fleeing or reoffending, or protecting him.

Otherwise, the French ex-president he must be released under judicial supervision, possibly under house arrest and wearing a “bracelet”.