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The former French president has asserted that his stay in prison has been “gruelling” and a “nightmare” as he was present via video link at a judicial proceeding regarding his request to complete his jail term at home.

Legal Proceeding from Behind Bars

The former leader, dressed in a navy blue suit, was visible on screen from prison on Monday, seated at a table with his lawyers beside him. He told the court: “I want to commend all the prison staff, who are remarkably compassionate, and who have made this nightmare bearable – because it is a nightmare.”

Context of the Legal Situation

Sarkozy was admitted to La Santé prison in Paris on 21 October, after receiving a half-decade imprisonment for illegal collaboration over a plan to secure financing for his 2007 presidential election campaign from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

He has appealed against the ruling, but judges ruled that because of the “exceptional gravity” of his conviction, he had to be incarcerated while the legal challenge took its course.

Historical Importance

Sarkozy, who was France’s conservative leader between 2007 and 2012, is the first former head of an EU country to be imprisoned in prison, and the first French postwar leader to be incarcerated.

Personal Statement

The former president told the court from prison: “I never had any idea or desire 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 ordeal that has been forced upon me. I admit it’s difficult, it’s extremely challenging. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s exhausting.”

He stated he would not attempt to enter into contact 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 caused them pain a lot.”

Legal Team Comments

Sarkozy’s lawyer Jean-Michel Darrois, positioned beside him in the remote connection facility, said: “Being in solitary confinement has been very hard for him.” He said of Sarkozy: “He’s a resilient, robust and brave man and this detention has caused him great suffering.”

In court, a different legal representative, Christophe Ingrain, who had visited him every day, asserted Sarkozy would be more secure outside jail than inside. “He has received threats against his life, 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 asked that Sarkozy’s petition for freedom be granted. The court will reveal its ruling on Monday afternoon.

Prison Conditions

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

Accounts suggested that he had been eating only yoghurt in prison as he feared any meal might have been contaminated. He had been given the opportunity to prepare his own meals but declined the offer.

Encouragement from Outside

Sarkozy’s social media account last week posted a video of piles of letters, cards and packages it claimed had been delivered to his attention, including a collage, a chocolate bar and a volume. “No correspondence will go without a response,” his account announced. “The end of the story has not yet been written.”

Personal Belongings

Sarkozy took into prison a life story of Christ as well as the classic novel, the famous work in which an innocent man is imprisoned but breaks out to seek retribution.

Legal Proceedings Particulars

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

Sarkozy denied wrongdoing and said he had not been part of a criminal conspiracy 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 public attorney also appealed against these not guilty verdicts, Sarkozy will be re-tried on all the charges next year, including criminal conspiracy.

Previous Convictions

Although the allegations of a secret campaign funding pact with the North African government formed the most significant legal case Sarkozy had encountered, he had already been found guilty in two different proceedings and stripped of France’s top honor, the Légion d’honneur.

The former president had previously become the initial ex-leader forced to wear an monitoring device after being convicted in a separate case of dishonesty and influence peddling. In that situation, he was given a 12-month sentence but was able to serve it with an electronic tag worn around the ankle. He had the device for a quarter year before being allowed limited freedom.