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The former French president has stated that his period of incarceration has been “draining” and a “nightmare” as he was present via video link at a court hearing regarding his request to serve his sentence at home.

Legal Proceeding from Behind Bars

Sarkozy, dressed in a navy blue suit, appeared on camera from prison on Monday, positioned at a desk with his lawyers beside him. He informed the judges: “I want to pay tribute to all the correctional officers, who are remarkably compassionate, and who have eased this difficult situation – because it is a horrific experience.”

Background of the Legal Situation

Sarkozy entered the correctional facility in Paris on 21 October, after receiving a five-year jail sentence for illegal collaboration over a scheme to secure financing for his election bid from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

He has challenged the verdict, but judges ruled that because of the “exceptional gravity” of his guilty verdict, he had to go to prison while the appeals process proceeded.

Historical Significance

The former leader, who was France’s rightwing president between 2007 and 2012, is the initial ex-leader of an EU country to serve time in prison, and the first French postwar leader to go behind bars.

Emotional Testimony

The former president stated to the judges from prison: “I was completely unaware or desire to ask Mr Gaddafi for any kind of financing … I will not admit to something I am innocent of … I could not have foreseen that at 70 years of age, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal that has been imposed on me. I admit it’s hard, it’s very hard. It has an impact on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.”

He stated he would not try to communicate with any defendants or witnesses in the case. He declared: “I’m French, I am patriotic, my family is in France. This ordeal has caused them pain a lot.”

Legal Team Comments

Sarkozy’s lawyer Jean-Michel Darrois, sitting next to him in the remote connection facility, said: “Being in solitary confinement has been very hard for him.” He said of Sarkozy: “He’s a strong, robust and brave man and this imprisonment has caused him great suffering.”

In court, a different legal representative, Christophe Ingrain, who had visited him every day, said Sarkozy would be safer outside jail than inside. “He has received threats against his life, has listened to shouts at night and the emergency response in a adjacent room when a prisoner self-harmed,” he said.

Present Situation

The public attorney Damien Brunet asked that Sarkozy’s request for release be approved. The court will announce its decision on Monday afternoon.

Incarceration Details

The former president has been placed in isolation for his own security, in an individual cell of about 9 sq metres, with his own shower and restroom. Security personnel are occupying a neighbouring cell to protect him.

Accounts suggested that he had been consuming solely yogurt in prison as he was concerned any meal might have been contaminated. He had been offered the facilities to cook for himself but refused this.

Encouragement from Outside

His online presence last week posted a recording of piles of letters, cards and packages it said had been sent to him, including a collection, a sweet treat and a book. “No letter will go unanswered,” his account declared. “The final chapter has not yet been written.”

Personal Belongings

The former leader took into prison a biography of Jesus as well as the classic novel, the famous work in which an innocent man is sentenced to jail but breaks out to take revenge.

Court Case Details

During the lengthy court case, the public prosecutor had told the court that Sarkozy entered into a “Faustian pact of corruption with one of the most unspeakable dictators of the last three decades.

Sarkozy maintained his innocence and said he had not been involved in a illegal scheme to obtain campaign finances from Libya.

He was acquitted of three separate charges of corruption, improper handling of state money and unlawful political financing. After the state prosecutor also appealed against these not guilty verdicts, Sarkozy will be re-tried on all the charges next year, including criminal conspiracy.

Prior Legal Issues

Although the allegations of a clandestine financial agreement with the Libyan regime formed the most significant legal case Sarkozy had faced, he had already been convicted in two separate cases and lost France’s highest distinction, the Légion d’honneur.

The former president had previously become the initial ex-leader forced to wear an electronic tag after being convicted in a separate case of dishonesty and improper sway. In that situation, he was given a 12-month sentence but was able to complete it with an electronic tag attached to his leg. He had the device for a quarter year before being granted conditional release.