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The former French president has stated that his stay in prison has been “draining” and a “nightmare” as he was present via remote connection at a court hearing regarding his application to serve his sentence at home.

Court Appearance from Prison

Sarkozy, dressed in a navy blue suit, was visible on screen from prison on Monday, positioned at a desk with his lawyers 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 nightmare.”

Background of the Case

Sarkozy was admitted to the correctional facility in Paris on 21 October, after receiving a five-year jail sentence for criminal conspiracy over a plan to secure financing for his election bid from the government of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

He has appealed against the verdict, but the court ruled that because of the “serious nature” of his guilty verdict, he had to be incarcerated while the legal challenge took its course.

Historical Importance

The former leader, 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 first French postwar leader to go behind bars.

Emotional Testimony

Sarkozy stated to the judges 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 forced upon me. I admit it’s hard, it’s extremely challenging. It has an impact on any prisoner because it’s exhausting.”

He said he would not try to communicate with any accused individuals or testifiers 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 Observations

Sarkozy’s lawyer Jean-Michel Darrois, sitting next to 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 strong, robust and courageous man and this detention has caused him great suffering.”

In court, a different legal representative, Christophe Ingrain, who had seen him daily, 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 said.

Current Status

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

Incarceration Details

The former president has been held in solitary confinement for his own safety, in an private room of about 97 square feet, with his own shower and restroom. Two bodyguards are stationed nearby to protect him.

Accounts suggested that he had been consuming solely yogurt in prison as he feared any food might have been tampered with. He had been given the opportunity to cook for himself but declined the offer.

Support from Outside

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

Personal Belongings

Sarkozy took into prison 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 breaks out to take revenge.

Legal Proceedings Details

During Sarkozy’s three-month trial, the public prosecutor had informed the judges that Sarkozy engaged in a “corrupt agreement” of corruption with one of the most unspeakable dictators of the last three decades.

The accused 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 separate charges of dishonesty, misuse of Libyan public funds and illegal election campaign funding. After the state prosecutor also challenged these not guilty verdicts, Sarkozy will be re-tried on all the charges next year, including criminal conspiracy.

Previous Convictions

Although the allegations of a clandestine financial agreement with the North African government formed the biggest corruption trial Sarkozy had faced, he had already been convicted in two different proceedings and lost 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 serve it with an electronic tag worn around the ankle. He had the device for three months before being allowed limited freedom.