French President Francois Hollande has pardoned a woman in her sixties for killing her husband in 2012 over domestic violence. The woman was released after a second intervention by the French leader.
The woman, Jacqueline Sauvage's, case attracted public attention as she murdered her husband after suffering decades of abuse by him. Hollande had earlier issued a public pardon for Sauvage at the end of January this year. However, the courts had rejected his application for her release at least twice.
No free school for children of illegal immigrants in France, says Far-Right leader Marine Le Pen
The French President has now given full pardon to the woman and she was freed from jail on Wednesday evening. Sauvage, 69, had been serving a jail term of 10-years at Reau prison, south-east of Paris, BBC reported. Soon after her release, a car was spotted carrying her and her three daughters leaving the prison.
"I've decided to grant Jacqueline Sauvage a pardon of the rest of her sentence. This pardon puts an immediate end to her detention," the president tweeted.
There was a huge campaign ongoing for Sauvage's release from prison for years. Her three daughters had fought hard for the release of their mother ever since she was jailed in 2014. They insisted that she had been brutally treated by her deceased husband Norbert Marot throughout her marriage. Reports state that she had picked up a gun and shot her husband, a day after her son committed suicide.
The head of the French union of magistrates, Virginie Duval, however said that the president had taken the decision to "to please public opinion". Duval said that the court had rejected Sauvage's appeals for pardon because it was following the law.
A local court had rejected Sauvage's plea for parole in August and the court ruling was supported by the court of appeal in Paris in November.
