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Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has declared that his period of incarceration has been “draining” and an “ordeal” as he was present via remote connection at a judicial proceeding regarding his application to serve his sentence at home.

Legal Proceeding from Behind Bars

Sarkozy, wearing a navy blue suit, appeared on camera from jail on Monday, seated at a table with his lawyers beside him. He informed the judges: “I want to acknowledge all the correctional officers, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this nightmare bearable – because it is a nightmare.”

Context of the Case

Sarkozy was admitted to the correctional facility in Paris on 21 October, after being handed a half-decade imprisonment for illegal collaboration over a scheme to secure financing for his 2007 presidential election campaign from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

He has challenged the ruling, but judges ruled that because of the “exceptional gravity” of his guilty verdict, he had to be incarcerated while the legal challenge took its course.

Historical Importance

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

Personal Statement

The former president told the court from prison: “I was completely unaware or desire to ask Mr Gaddafi for any kind of financing … I will never confess to something I am innocent of … I could not have foreseen that at this stage of life, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal that has been imposed on me. I confess it’s hard, it’s very hard. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s exhausting.”

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

Defense Lawyers Comments

His legal representative Jean-Michel Darrois, sitting next to him in the prison video link room, stated: “Being in solitary confinement has been extremely difficult for him.” He commented on Sarkozy: “He’s a strong, robust and courageous man and this imprisonment has caused him great suffering.”

In court, another of Sarkozy’s lawyers, Christophe Ingrain, who had visited him every day, said Sarkozy would be safer outside jail than within. “He has received threats against his life, has listened to shouts at night and the emergency response in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner self-harmed,” he stated.

Current Status

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

Incarceration Details

The former president has been held in solitary confinement for his own security, in an individual cell of about 97 square feet, with his own washing facility and restroom. Security personnel are stationed nearby to protect him.

Accounts indicated that he had been eating only yoghurt in prison as he was concerned any meal might have been tampered with. He had been offered the facilities to prepare his own meals but refused this.

Support from Outside

Sarkozy’s social media account last week shared a recording of numerous correspondences, postcards and packages it said had been sent to him, including a collage, a chocolate bar and a book. “No letter will go without a response,” his account announced. “The end of the story has not yet been determined.”

Items in Prison

The former leader brought with him a life story of Christ as well as The Count of Monte Cristo, the famous work in which an innocent man is imprisoned but breaks out to take revenge.

Court Case Details

During Sarkozy’s three-month trial, the state attorney had told the court that Sarkozy entered into a “corrupt agreement” of corruption with one of the worst rulers of the last 30 years.

The accused denied wrongdoing and said he had not been part of a criminal conspiracy to seek election funding from Libya.

He was acquitted of three distinct accusations of dishonesty, misuse of Libyan public funds and unlawful political financing. After the state prosecutor also appealed against these not guilty verdicts, Sarkozy will be judged again on all the accusations next year, including illegal collaboration.

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 found guilty in two separate cases and lost France’s highest distinction, the Légion d’honneur.

The former president had previously become the first former French head of state forced to wear an monitoring device after being found guilty in a different matter of dishonesty and improper sway. In that case, he was given a 12-month sentence but was able to serve it with an electronic tag worn around the ankle. He had the device for three months before being granted conditional release.