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Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has asserted that his period of incarceration has been “exhausting” and a “nightmare” as he was present via remote connection at a judicial proceeding regarding his request to serve his sentence at home.

Court Appearance from Prison

Sarkozy, wearing a dark blue attire, was visible on screen from jail on Monday, seated at a table with his lawyers beside him. He informed the judges: “I want to commend all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, and who have eased this difficult situation – because it is a nightmare.”

Background of the Legal Situation

The former president was admitted to the correctional facility in Paris on 21 October, after being handed a half-decade imprisonment for illegal collaboration over a plan to obtain funds for his election bid from the government of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

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

Unprecedented Importance

Sarkozy, who was France’s rightwing president between 2007 and 2012, is the first former head of an EU country to serve time in prison, and the initial leader since WWII to go behind bars.

Emotional Testimony

The former president told the court from prison: “I was completely unaware or intention to ask Mr Gaddafi for any kind of financing … I will not admit 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 hard, 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 testifiers in the case. He said: “I’m French, I love my country, my family is in France. This situation has made them suffer a lot.”

Legal Team Comments

Sarkozy’s lawyer Jean-Michel Darrois, positioned beside him in the remote connection facility, stated: “Being in isolation has been extremely difficult for him.” He commented on Sarkozy: “He’s a resilient, robust and brave man and this detention has been very painful for him.”

In court, a different legal representative, Christophe Ingrain, who had seen him daily, asserted Sarkozy would be safer out of prison than inside. “He has received threats against his life, has listened to shouts at night and the emergency response in a adjacent room when a prisoner self-harmed,” he said.

Current Status

The public attorney Damien Brunet requested that Sarkozy’s request for release be granted. The court will reveal its ruling 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 washing facility and toilet. Two bodyguards are occupying a neighbouring cell to ensure his safety.

Accounts indicated that he had been eating only yoghurt in prison as he feared any food might have been contaminated. He had been offered the facilities to prepare his own meals but refused this.

Encouragement from Outside

His online presence last week posted a video of numerous correspondences, cards and parcels it said had been sent to him, including a collection, a sweet treat and a book. “No correspondence will go unanswered,” his account announced. “The end of the story has not yet been written.”

Items in Prison

The former leader took into prison a life story of Christ as well as The Count of Monte Cristo, the famous work in which an wrongly accused individual is sentenced to jail but breaks out to seek retribution.

Court Case Details

During Sarkozy’s three-month trial, the public prosecutor had told the court that Sarkozy engaged in a “corrupt agreement” of corruption with one of the worst rulers of the last 30 years.

Sarkozy maintained his innocence and said he had not been part of a criminal conspiracy to obtain campaign finances from Libya.

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

Prior Legal Issues

Although the claims of a clandestine financial agreement with the North African government formed the most significant legal case Sarkozy had encountered, he had already been convicted in two separate cases and lost France’s highest distinction, the Légion d’honneur.

Sarkozy had previously become the first former French head of state forced to wear an monitoring device after being found guilty in a separate case of corruption and improper sway. In that situation, 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 a quarter year before being allowed limited freedom.