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The former French president has declared that his time behind bars has been “gruelling” and a “horrific experience” as he appeared via remote connection at a court hearing regarding his request to serve his sentence at home.

Legal Proceeding from Behind Bars

The former leader, wearing a navy blue suit, appeared on camera from jail on Monday, positioned at a desk with his legal representatives beside him. He informed the judges: “I want to pay tribute to all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this nightmare bearable – because it is a nightmare.”

Context of the Case

The former president entered La Santé prison in Paris on 21 October, after receiving a five-year jail sentence for illegal collaboration over a scheme to obtain funds for his 2007 presidential election campaign from the government of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

He has appealed against the verdict, but judges ruled that because of the “exceptional gravity” of his conviction, he had to go to prison while the legal challenge proceeded.

Historical Importance

Sarkozy, who served as France’s conservative leader between 2007 and 2012, is the first former head of an EU country to serve time in prison, and the first French postwar leader to be incarcerated.

Emotional Testimony

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 didn’t do … 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 admit it’s hard, it’s extremely challenging. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s exhausting.”

He said 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 ordeal has caused them pain a lot.”

Legal Team Comments

His legal representative Jean-Michel Darrois, positioned beside him in the remote connection facility, stated: “Being in isolation 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, another of Sarkozy’s lawyers, Christophe Ingrain, who had visited him every day, said Sarkozy would be more secure out of prison than inside. “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.

Present Situation

The state prosecutor Damien Brunet requested that Sarkozy’s request for release be granted. The court will announce its decision on Monday afternoon.

Prison Conditions

Sarkozy has been placed in isolation for his own safety, 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 indicated that he had been eating only yoghurt in prison as he feared any food might have been contaminated. He had been given the opportunity to cook for himself but refused this.

Support from Outside

Sarkozy’s social media account last week shared a recording 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 without a response,” his account declared. “The final chapter has not yet been determined.”

Personal Belongings

Sarkozy took into prison a biography of Jesus as well as The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas’s novel in which an wrongly accused individual is sentenced to jail but breaks out to seek retribution.

Court Case Details

During the lengthy court case, the state attorney had informed the judges that Sarkozy entered into a “corrupt agreement” of dishonesty with one of the worst rulers of the last three decades.

Sarkozy maintained his innocence and stated he had not been involved in a illegal scheme to seek election funding from Libya.

He was found not guilty of three distinct accusations of corruption, improper handling of state money and illegal election campaign funding. After the public attorney also appealed against these acquittals, Sarkozy will be judged again on all the accusations next year, including illegal collaboration.

Previous Convictions

Although the claims of a clandestine financial agreement with the North African government formed the biggest corruption trial Sarkozy had encountered, he had already been found guilty in two different proceedings and stripped of 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 separate case of dishonesty and influence peddling. In that situation, he was given a one-year jail term but was able to complete it with an electronic tag worn around the ankle. He wore the tag for three months before being granted conditional release.