France's former presidentNicolas Sarkozywill go on trial on appeal over Libyan campaign-funding allegations starting March 16, aPariscourt said Thursday.
A lower court in September found the right-wing politician who was head of state from 2007 to 2012 guilty of seeking to acquire funding from Muammar Gaddafi'sLibyafor the campaign that saw him elected.
Sarkozy was sentenced to five years behind bars but left La Sante prison in Paris on Monday afterserving just 20 days, following a judge's order for his release.
Read moreFrances ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy granted conditional release after 20 days in jail
The 70-year-old had immediately appealed, but the lower court ordered him jailed, citing the "exceptional gravity" of the conviction.
The appeal means Sarkozy who has denied any wrongdoing is again presumed innocent, with proceedings scheduled to run until June 3, the Paris appeals court said in a statement on Thursday.
Sarkozy entered jail on October 21, becoming the first former head of aEuropean Unionstate to be incarcerated.
In the so-called "Libyan case", prosecutors said his aides, acting in Sarkozy's name, struck a deal with Gaddafi in 2005 to illegally fund his victorious presidential election bid.
Read moreSarkozy on trial: Campaigns, Gaddafi and suitcases full of cash
Investigators believe that in return, Gaddafi was promised help to restore his international image afterTripoliwas blamed for the 1988 bombing of a plane over Lockerbie, Scotland, and another over Niger in 1989, killing hundreds of passengers.
The court convicted Sarkozy of criminal conspiracy over the plan. But it did not conclude that he received or used the funds for his campaign.
Sarkozy has faced a flurry of legal woes since losing his re-election bid in 2012, and has already been convicted in two other cases.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Originally published on France24
