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The former French president has asserted that his time behind bars has been “exhausting” and a “horrific experience” as he was present via video link at a judicial proceeding regarding his petition to serve his sentence at home.

Court Appearance from Behind Bars

Sarkozy, dressed in a dark blue attire, appeared on camera from prison on Monday, positioned at a desk with his legal representatives beside him. He told the court: “I want to pay tribute to all the prison staff, who are remarkably compassionate, and who have eased this difficult situation – because it is a horrific experience.”

Context of the Case

Sarkozy was admitted to La Santé prison in Paris on 21 October, after receiving a half-decade imprisonment for criminal conspiracy over a plan to obtain funds for his 2007 presidential election campaign from the government 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 conviction, he had to be incarcerated while the legal challenge took its course.

Unprecedented Significance

The former leader, who was France’s rightwing president between 2007 and 2012, is the initial ex-leader of an EU country to be imprisoned in prison, and the initial leader since WWII to be incarcerated.

Emotional Testimony

Sarkozy told the court from prison: “I never had any idea or desire 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 70 years of age, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal that has been forced upon me. I confess it’s difficult, it’s extremely challenging. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.”

He said 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 made them suffer a lot.”

Legal Team Comments

Sarkozy’s lawyer Jean-Michel Darrois, sitting next to him in the remote connection facility, stated: “Being in isolation has been very hard for him.” He commented on 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 visited him every day, asserted Sarkozy would be more secure out of prison than within. “He has faced death threats, has listened to shouts at night and the emergency response in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner self-harmed,” he stated.

Present Situation

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

Incarceration Details

Sarkozy has been held in solitary confinement for his own safety, in an private room of about 9 sq metres, with his own washing facility and restroom. Security personnel are occupying a neighbouring cell to protect him.

Reports indicated that he had been eating only yoghurt in prison as he feared any meal might have been tampered with. He had been given the opportunity to prepare his own meals but refused this.

Encouragement from the Public

Sarkozy’s social media account last week shared a video of numerous correspondences, postcards and packages it claimed had been delivered to his attention, including a collection, a chocolate bar and a volume. “No letter will go without a response,” his account declared. “The final chapter has not yet been written.”

Personal Belongings

The former leader brought with him a biography of Jesus as well as The Count of Monte Cristo, the famous work in which an wrongly accused individual is sentenced to jail but escapes to take revenge.

Court Case Details

During the lengthy court case, the state attorney had told the court that Sarkozy entered into a “corrupt agreement” of dishonesty with one of the worst rulers of the last 30 years.

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

He was found not guilty of three separate charges of dishonesty, misuse of Libyan public funds and unlawful political financing. After the state prosecutor also challenged these acquittals, Sarkozy will be re-tried on all the accusations next year, including criminal conspiracy.

Prior Legal Issues

Although the claims of a secret campaign funding pact with the Libyan regime formed the biggest corruption trial Sarkozy had faced, he had already been found guilty in two separate cases and stripped of France’s top honor, 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 dishonesty and improper sway. In that case, he was given a 12-month sentence but was able to serve it with an ankle monitor attached to his leg. He had the device for a quarter year before being allowed limited freedom.