Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been released from jail, three weeks into a five-year prison term for taking part in a criminal conspiracy, BBC reported.

He will be subject to strict judicial supervision and barred from leaving France ahead of an appeal trial due to be held next year.

On 21 October, the former centre-right president, 70, was sentenced to five years for conspiring to fund his 2007 election campaign with money from late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, according to BBC.