France's former President Nicolas Sarkozy departed a Paris prison after an appeals court granted him release under judicial supervision.

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's black car with tinted windows was seen leaving the prison in the direction of his home in western Paris.

The former president, 70, is 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 Septembe

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