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

Court Appearance from Behind Bars

The former leader, dressed in a dark blue attire, appeared on camera from jail on Monday, positioned at a desk with his lawyers beside him. He told the court: “I want to commend all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this nightmare bearable – because it is a horrific experience.”

Context of the Legal Situation

The former president was admitted to La Santé prison in Paris on 21 October, after receiving a half-decade imprisonment for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to obtain funds for his 2007 presidential election campaign from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

He has appealed against the ruling, but the court ruled that because of the “exceptional gravity” of his guilty verdict, he had to be incarcerated while the legal challenge proceeded.

Unprecedented Significance

Sarkozy, who was France’s rightwing president between 2007 and 2012, is the first former head of an EU country to be imprisoned in prison, and the initial leader since WWII to go behind bars.

Personal Statement

Sarkozy stated to the judges from prison: “I was completely unaware or intention 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 challenge that has been imposed on me. I confess it’s hard, it’s very hard. It has an impact 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 said: “I’m French, I am patriotic, my family is in France. This ordeal has made them suffer a lot.”

Defense Lawyers Comments

Sarkozy’s lawyer Jean-Michel Darrois, positioned beside him in the prison video link room, said: “Being in solitary confinement has been extremely difficult for him.” He said of Sarkozy: “He’s a resilient, robust and courageous man and this imprisonment has caused him great suffering.”

In court, a different legal representative, Christophe Ingrain, who had seen him daily, asserted Sarkozy would be more secure out of prison than within. “He has received threats against his life, has heard screaming at night and the urgent intervention in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner injured themselves,” he stated.

Present Situation

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

Prison Conditions

Sarkozy has been held in solitary confinement for his own safety, in an private room of about 97 square feet, with his own shower and toilet. Two bodyguards are occupying a neighbouring cell to protect him.

Reports indicated that he had been consuming solely yogurt in prison as he feared any food might have been contaminated. He had been offered the facilities to cook for himself but refused this.

Support from Outside

His online presence last week shared a video of numerous correspondences, cards and packages it said had been delivered to his attention, including a collage, a chocolate bar and a volume. “No letter will go unanswered,” his account announced. “The final chapter has not yet been determined.”

Items in Prison

Sarkozy brought with him a life story of Christ as well as The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas’s novel in which an wrongly accused individual is imprisoned but escapes to seek retribution.

Court Case Details

During the lengthy court case, the public prosecutor had informed the judges 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 involved in a criminal conspiracy to obtain campaign finances from Libya.

He was found not guilty of three separate charges of corruption, misuse of Libyan public funds and unlawful political financing. After the public attorney also appealed against these not guilty verdicts, Sarkozy will be re-tried on all the accusations next year, including illegal collaboration.

Previous Convictions

Although the allegations of a secret campaign funding pact with the North African government formed the most significant legal case Sarkozy had faced, he had already been convicted in two different proceedings and lost France’s highest distinction, the Légion d’honneur.

Sarkozy had previously become the first former French head of state forced to wear an electronic tag after being found guilty in a different matter of corruption and improper sway. In that situation, he was given a one-year jail term but was able to serve it with an ankle monitor worn around the ankle. He wore the tag for a quarter year before being allowed limited freedom.