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Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has asserted that his time behind bars has been “draining” and a “nightmare” as he was present via remote connection at a judicial proceeding regarding his application to serve his sentence at home.

Legal Proceeding from Prison

The former leader, dressed in a dark blue attire, was visible on screen from jail on Monday, seated at a table with his legal representatives beside him. He told the court: “I want to acknowledge all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this nightmare bearable – 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 plan to secure financing for his election bid from the government of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

He has challenged the verdict, but judges ruled that because of the “exceptional gravity” of his conviction, he had to be incarcerated while the appeals process took its course.

Unprecedented Importance

Sarkozy, who served as France’s rightwing president between 2007 and 2012, is the initial ex-leader of an EU country to serve time in prison, and the initial leader since WWII to be incarcerated.

Personal Statement

The former president stated to the judges from prison: “I never had any idea or intention to ask Mr Gaddafi for any kind of financing … I will never confess to something I didn’t do … I never imagined 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 has an impact on any prisoner because it’s exhausting.”

He stated he would not attempt to enter into contact with any defendants or witnesses in the case. He said: “I’m French, I love my country, my family is in France. This ordeal has caused them pain a lot.”

Defense Lawyers Comments

His legal representative Jean-Michel Darrois, sitting next to him in the remote connection facility, stated: “Being in isolation has been very hard for him.” He said of Sarkozy: “He’s a strong, durable and brave man and this detention 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 within. “He has faced death threats, has listened to shouts at night and the emergency response in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner injured themselves,” he stated.

Current Status

The public attorney Damien Brunet requested that Sarkozy’s petition for freedom be granted. The court will reveal its ruling on Monday afternoon.

Incarceration Details

The former president has been placed in isolation for his own security, in an individual cell of about 97 square feet, with his own washing facility and toilet. Security personnel are occupying a neighbouring cell to protect him.

Reports indicated that he had been consuming solely yogurt 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 declined the offer.

Support from the Public

Sarkozy’s social media account last week shared a recording of piles of letters, cards and packages it claimed had been delivered to his attention, including a collection, a sweet treat and a volume. “No letter will go unanswered,” his account announced. “The final chapter has not yet been written.”

Personal Belongings

Sarkozy took into prison a life story of Christ as well as the classic novel, the famous work in which an innocent man is sentenced to jail but escapes to take revenge.

Court Case Details

During Sarkozy’s three-month trial, the public prosecutor had told the court that Sarkozy engaged in a “Faustian pact of dishonesty with one of the worst rulers of the last three decades.

Sarkozy maintained his innocence and said he had not been part of a criminal conspiracy to seek election funding from Libya.

He was found not guilty of three distinct accusations of dishonesty, misuse of Libyan public funds and illegal election campaign funding. After the state prosecutor also challenged these acquittals, Sarkozy will be judged again on all the charges next year, including illegal collaboration.

Prior Legal Issues

Although the allegations of a clandestine financial agreement with the North African government formed the biggest corruption trial Sarkozy had encountered, he had already been convicted in two different proceedings and stripped of France’s top honor, the Légion d’honneur.

Sarkozy had previously become the initial ex-leader 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 12-month sentence but was able to complete it with an electronic tag attached to his leg. He wore the tag for three months before being granted conditional release.