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The former French president has asserted that his period of incarceration has been “gruelling” and an “ordeal” as he appeared via remote connection at a judicial proceeding regarding his request to serve his sentence at home.

Legal Proceeding from Prison

Sarkozy, wearing a navy blue suit, appeared on camera from prison on Monday, positioned at a desk with his legal representatives beside him. He informed the judges: “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 Case

Sarkozy was admitted to the correctional facility in Paris on 21 October, after being handed a five-year jail sentence for criminal conspiracy over a plan 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 “serious nature” of his guilty verdict, he had to be incarcerated while the appeals process proceeded.

Unprecedented Importance

The former leader, who was 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.

Personal Statement

The former president 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 didn’t do … I could not have foreseen that at 70 years of age, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal that has been forced upon me. I confess it’s hard, it’s very hard. It has an impact on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.”

He stated he would not attempt to enter into contact with any accused individuals or testifiers in the case. He said: “I’m French, I am patriotic, my family is in France. This situation has caused them pain a lot.”

Legal Team Comments

Sarkozy’s lawyer Jean-Michel Darrois, positioned beside him in the prison video link room, said: “Being in isolation has been extremely difficult for him.” He said of Sarkozy: “He’s a strong, durable and courageous man and this detention has been very painful for him.”

In court, a different legal representative, Christophe Ingrain, who had visited him every day, asserted Sarkozy would be safer out of prison than within. “He has faced death threats, 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.

Prison Conditions

Sarkozy has been held in solitary confinement for his own safety, in an individual cell of about 9 sq metres, with his own washing facility and restroom. Two bodyguards are stationed nearby 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 declined the offer.

Encouragement from Outside

Sarkozy’s social media account last week posted a video of piles of letters, cards and packages it claimed had been sent to him, including a collection, a chocolate bar and a book. “No letter will go without a response,” his account declared. “The end of the story has not yet been written.”

Personal Belongings

The former leader took into prison a life story of Christ as well as The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas’s novel in which an innocent man is imprisoned but breaks out to take revenge.

Court Case Details

During the lengthy court case, the state attorney had informed the judges that Sarkozy engaged in a “Faustian pact of corruption with one of the most unspeakable dictators of the last three decades.

The accused 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 dishonesty, improper handling of state money and unlawful political financing. After the state prosecutor also appealed against these acquittals, Sarkozy will be judged again 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 found guilty in two separate cases and stripped of France’s highest distinction, the Légion d’honneur.

The former president had previously become the initial ex-leader forced to wear an monitoring device after being found guilty in a different matter of dishonesty and influence peddling. In that case, he was given a 12-month sentence but was able to serve it with an ankle monitor worn around the ankle. He had the device for three months before being allowed limited freedom.