New Delhi, April 8 -- French former President Nicolas Sarkozy maintained his innocence at an appeal hearing in Paris on Tuesday over his conspiracy conviction last year, saying that not a single cent from Libya helped fund his 2007 presidential campaign.

"I owe the truth to the French people," Sarkozy told a three-judge panel during a hearing in the case that led him to spend 20 days in prison before being granted release pending appeal.

"I'm innocent," he said.

Sarkozy, 71, is challenging his conviction after being found guilty in September of criminal conspiracy. He was sentenced to five years in prison for his alleged part in a scheme to obtain funds from the government of then Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in exchange for political...