Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy will be released from prison and placed under judicial supervision, a Paris appeals court has ruled.

It comes less than three weeks after he began serving a five-year sentence over a scheme to finance his 2007 election campaign with funds from Libya.

Sarkozy, 70, was expected to leave Paris' La Santé prison on Monday afternoon.

He will be banned from leaving the French territory and from being in touch with key people, including co-defendants and witnesses in the case, the court said.

An appeals trial is expected to take place later, possibly in the first half of next year.

Sarkozy became the first former French head of state in modern times to be sent behind bars after his conviction on September 25.

He denies wrongdoing.

He was jailed on Oct

See Full Page