Sarkozy ally Claude Guéant freed from prison following slush fund affair
Former French interior minister Claude Guéant has been released on parole after serving two months in prison for misuse of public funds in a case that revolved around cash bonuses paid by the ministry.
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The 77-year-old, once the right-hand man of former president Nicolas Sarkozy, had been behind bars since 13 December – a first for a former interior minister.
Guéant’s lawyer argued that the former minister had "paid in full" his debts via loans from relatives.
He added that Géuant's health would "significantly deteriorate" in the Prison de la Santé, south of Paris, as he suffers from a form of epilepsy.
A few days after his incarceration, Guéant had made a request for his sentence to be modified.
His release is conditional, though he will not be made to wear an electronic tag.
In another court hearing over polling fraud, Guéant was handed a one-year jail term for nepotism on 21 January.
However that sentence was suspended under a deferred detention warrant.
His lawyer has appealed the ruling.
Claude Guéant vient de sortir de prison, deux mois après son incarcération pic.twitter.com/DjBYp9ildo
— Le Live Toussaint (@LeLiveToussaint) February 9, 2022
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