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Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has stated that his period of incarceration has been “gruelling” and an “ordeal” as he was present via video link at a judicial proceeding regarding his petition to complete his jail term at home.

Court Appearance from Behind Bars

Sarkozy, wearing a dark blue attire, appeared on camera from jail on Monday, seated at a table with his legal representatives 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.”

Context of the Case

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

He has appealed against the verdict, but the court ruled that because of the “exceptional gravity” of his guilty verdict, he had to go to prison while the legal challenge took its course.

Unprecedented Significance

The former leader, who served as 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 be incarcerated.

Personal Statement

Sarkozy stated to the judges from prison: “I was completely unaware or intention 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 imposed on me. I confess it’s difficult, it’s very hard. 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 ordeal has made them suffer a lot.”

Legal Team Observations

His legal representative Jean-Michel Darrois, sitting next to him in the prison video link room, stated: “Being in isolation has been extremely difficult for him.” He commented on Sarkozy: “He’s a strong, robust 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 outside jail than inside. “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.

Current Status

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

Incarceration Details

Sarkozy has been placed in isolation for his own safety, in an private room of about 97 square feet, with his own washing facility and restroom. Two bodyguards are occupying a neighbouring cell to protect him.

Accounts suggested that he had been consuming solely yogurt in prison as he was concerned any meal might have been tampered with. He had been offered the facilities to prepare his own meals but declined the offer.

Support from the Public

His online presence last week shared a recording of numerous correspondences, postcards and parcels it said had been delivered to his attention, including a collage, a chocolate bar and a book. “No correspondence 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, the famous work in which an wrongly accused individual is imprisoned but escapes to seek retribution.

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 three decades.

Sarkozy denied wrongdoing and stated he had not been part of a criminal conspiracy to seek election funding from Libya.

He was acquitted of three separate charges of corruption, improper handling of state money and unlawful political financing. After the public attorney also challenged these not guilty verdicts, Sarkozy will be judged again on all the charges next year, including criminal conspiracy.

Prior Legal Issues

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 found guilty 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 monitoring device after being found guilty in a different matter of dishonesty and influence peddling. In that case, he was given a 12-month sentence but was able to serve it with an electronic tag attached to his leg. He had the device for three months before being granted conditional release.