France: Francois Hollande pardons woman jailed for shooting dead abusive husband

Seven years of Jacqueline Sauvage’s remaining 10-year sentence are waived

The French president has on issued two pardons since entering office in 2012 (Getty)

A woman who shot her husband dead has had the remainder of her sentence waived by French president Francois Hollande.

Jacqueline Sauvage killed spouse Norbert Marota, a violent alcoholic who had beat and raped her for 47 years, and raped their daughters.

Jacqueline Sauvage, centre, a French woman convicted of murdering her abusive husband, in Blois, France. French President Francois Hollande pardoned Jacqueline Sauvage after a clemency plea by her children (EPA)

Their son, who was also abused by Marota, killed himself on 9 September 2012, and the following day Mrs Sauvage shot her husband three times in the back with a rifle.

Sauvage was sentenced to 10 years for the murder of her husband in October 2014, and had her self-defence plea rejected in December 2015.

The controversial case gained media attention in France, while campaigners condemned the verdict and argued for the definition of self-defence to be expanded to include victims of abuse.

More than 400,000 people signed a petition demanding her release.

Mr Hollande is reported to have met Sauvage’s three adult daughters and her lawyers two days before issuing the pardon.

Jacqueline Sauvage’s lawyers argued that she was acting in self-defence (PHOTOPQR)

A statement from the French presidency said: “In the face of an exceptional human situation, the President wanted to make it possible for Sauvage to return to her family as soon as possible.”

Although the pardon does not quash her sentence, it will enable the 69-year-old to leave prison having served just three years of her sentence.

The President has only used his pardon once before, to release Phillippe El Shennawy in 2014, a bank robber who had served 38 years of a life sentence.