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The former French president has asserted that his stay in prison has been “draining” and an “ordeal” as he was present via remote connection at a judicial proceeding regarding his application to complete his jail term at home.

Court Appearance from Prison

The former leader, wearing a dark blue attire, was visible on screen from prison on Monday, positioned at a desk with his legal representatives beside him. He informed the judges: “I want to acknowledge all the prison staff, who are remarkably compassionate, and who have eased this difficult situation – because it is a horrific experience.”

Context of the Legal Situation

The former president entered the correctional facility in Paris on 21 October, after receiving a five-year jail sentence 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 appealed against the ruling, but judges ruled that because of the “exceptional gravity” of his guilty verdict, 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 initial ex-leader of an EU country to be imprisoned in prison, and the first French postwar leader to be incarcerated.

Personal Statement

Sarkozy told the court from prison: “I never had any idea or intention to ask Mr Gaddafi for any kind of financing … I will not admit to something I am innocent of … 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 difficult, it’s extremely challenging. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.”

He stated 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 ordeal has caused them pain a lot.”

Defense Lawyers Comments

His legal representative Jean-Michel Darrois, sitting next to him in the prison video link room, said: “Being in solitary confinement has been very hard for him.” He said of Sarkozy: “He’s a resilient, durable and courageous 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 more secure out of prison than within. “He has received threats against his life, has heard screaming at night and the urgent intervention in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner injured themselves,” he stated.

Current Status

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

Prison Conditions

Sarkozy has been held in solitary confinement for his own security, in an individual cell of about 97 square feet, with his own washing facility and toilet. Two bodyguards are occupying a neighbouring cell to ensure his safety.

Accounts suggested that he had been consuming solely yogurt 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

His online presence last week shared a video of numerous correspondences, postcards and parcels it said had been delivered to his attention, including a collection, a chocolate bar and a volume. “No correspondence will go unanswered,” his account announced. “The final chapter has not yet been written.”

Personal Belongings

Sarkozy brought with him a biography of Jesus as well as the classic novel, Alexandre Dumas’s novel in which an innocent man is sentenced to jail but escapes to seek retribution.

Legal Proceedings Details

During the lengthy court case, the state attorney had informed the judges that Sarkozy entered into a “Faustian pact of corruption with one of the most unspeakable dictators of the last 30 years.

Sarkozy denied wrongdoing and stated he had not been part of a illegal scheme to obtain campaign finances from Libya.

He was acquitted of three distinct accusations of dishonesty, improper handling of state money and illegal election campaign funding. After the state prosecutor also appealed against these not guilty verdicts, Sarkozy will be re-tried on all the charges next year, including illegal collaboration.

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 convicted in two different proceedings and stripped of France’s top honor, the national recognition.

Sarkozy had previously become the first former French head of state forced to wear an electronic tag after being convicted in a separate case of corruption and influence peddling. In that case, he was given a one-year jail term but was able to serve it with an electronic tag attached to his leg. He had the device for a quarter year before being granted conditional release.