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The former French president has declared that his time behind bars has been “draining” and an “ordeal” as he appeared via remote connection at a judicial proceeding regarding his request to serve his sentence at home.

Legal Proceeding from Prison

The former leader, dressed in a navy blue suit, was visible on screen from jail on Monday, positioned at a desk with his legal representatives beside him. He told the court: “I want to commend all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this nightmare bearable – because it is a horrific experience.”

Context of the Case

The former president was admitted to the correctional facility in Paris on 21 October, after being handed a five-year jail sentence for illegal collaboration over a scheme to secure financing for his election bid from the government of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

He has appealed against the verdict, but judges ruled that because of the “serious nature” of his conviction, he had to be incarcerated while the legal challenge proceeded.

Historical Importance

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 first French postwar leader to go behind bars.

Personal Statement

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 never confess to something I didn’t do … I never imagined that at this stage of life, I’d be in prison. It’s an challenge that has been forced upon me. I admit it’s difficult, it’s extremely challenging. It has an impact on any prisoner because it’s exhausting.”

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

Defense Lawyers Observations

Sarkozy’s lawyer Jean-Michel Darrois, positioned beside him in the remote connection facility, stated: “Being in solitary confinement has been extremely difficult for him.” He said of Sarkozy: “He’s a resilient, durable and courageous 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 more secure out of prison than within. “He has received threats against his life, has listened to shouts at night and the urgent intervention in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner injured themselves,” he said.

Current Status

The public attorney Damien Brunet asked that Sarkozy’s petition for freedom be granted. The court will reveal its ruling on Monday afternoon.

Incarceration Details

The former president has been held in solitary confinement for his own security, in an individual cell of about 9 sq metres, with his own shower 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 feared any food might have been tampered with. He had been offered the facilities to cook for himself but refused this.

Support from the Public

His online presence last week posted a recording of numerous correspondences, cards and parcels it claimed had been delivered to his attention, including a collage, a chocolate bar and a book. “No correspondence will go without a response,” his account declared. “The end of the story has not yet been determined.”

Personal Belongings

The former leader took into prison a biography of Jesus as well as The Count of Monte Cristo, the famous work in which an innocent man is imprisoned but breaks out to take revenge.

Court Case Details

During Sarkozy’s three-month trial, the state attorney had told the court that Sarkozy entered into a “corrupt agreement” of corruption with one of the worst rulers of the last 30 years.

Sarkozy denied wrongdoing and said he had not been involved in a illegal scheme to obtain campaign finances from Libya.

He was found not guilty of three separate charges of corruption, misuse of Libyan public funds and unlawful political financing. After the state prosecutor also appealed against these acquittals, Sarkozy will be judged again on all the charges next year, including criminal conspiracy.

Prior Legal Issues

Although the claims of a clandestine financial agreement with the North African government formed the most significant legal case Sarkozy had faced, he had already been found guilty in two different proceedings and stripped of France’s highest distinction, the national recognition.

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