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Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has stated that his stay in prison has been “draining” and a “horrific experience” as he appeared via remote connection at a court hearing regarding his request to complete his jail term at home.

Legal Proceeding from Behind Bars

Sarkozy, dressed in a dark blue attire, was visible on screen from jail on Monday, positioned at a desk with his lawyers beside him. He told the court: “I want to acknowledge all the correctional officers, who are exceptionally humane, and who have eased this difficult situation – because it is a nightmare.”

Context of the Case

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

He has challenged the ruling, but the court ruled that because of the “exceptional gravity” of his conviction, he had to go to prison while the legal challenge 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 initial leader since WWII to go behind bars.

Personal Statement

Sarkozy 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 didn’t do … I never imagined that at 70 years of age, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal that has been imposed on me. I admit it’s hard, it’s very hard. It has an impact on any prisoner because it’s exhausting.”

He stated he would not try to communicate with any defendants or witnesses in the case. He declared: “I’m French, I love my country, my family is in France. This ordeal has made them suffer a lot.”

Legal Team Observations

His legal representative 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 brave man and this imprisonment has caused him great suffering.”

In court, a different legal representative, Christophe Ingrain, who had seen him daily, asserted Sarkozy would be safer out of prison than within. “He has faced death threats, has listened to shouts at night and the urgent intervention in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner injured themselves,” he said.

Present Situation

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

Incarceration Details

Sarkozy has been placed in isolation for his own safety, in an private room of about 9 sq metres, with his own washing facility and toilet. Two bodyguards are stationed nearby to protect him.

Accounts indicated that he had been consuming solely yogurt in prison as he was concerned any food might have been tampered with. He had been given the opportunity to prepare his own meals but declined the offer.

Encouragement from the Public

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

Personal Belongings

Sarkozy brought with him a biography of Jesus as well as The Count of Monte Cristo, the famous work in which an innocent man is sentenced to jail but breaks out to seek retribution.

Legal Proceedings Particulars

During the lengthy court case, the state attorney had told the court that Sarkozy entered into a “Faustian pact of corruption with one of the worst rulers of the last 30 years.

Sarkozy denied wrongdoing and said he had not been part of a illegal scheme to seek election funding from Libya.

He was found not guilty of three separate charges of corruption, misuse of Libyan public funds and illegal election campaign funding. After the state prosecutor also appealed against these acquittals, Sarkozy will be re-tried on all the accusations next year, including illegal collaboration.

Previous Convictions

Although the claims 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 national recognition.

The former president 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 situation, he was given a one-year jail term but was able to serve it with an ankle monitor worn around the ankle. He had the device for a quarter year before being granted conditional release.