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The former French president has stated that his stay in prison has been “draining” and an “ordeal” as he appeared via remote connection at a court hearing regarding his request to serve his sentence at home.

Court Appearance from Prison

The former leader, wearing a dark blue attire, appeared on camera from jail on Monday, positioned at a desk with his lawyers beside him. He told the court: “I want to pay tribute to all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this nightmare bearable – because it is a nightmare.”

Context of the Legal Situation

The former president 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 appealed against the verdict, but judges ruled that because of the “exceptional gravity” of his conviction, he had to go to prison while the appeals process proceeded.

Historical Importance

The former leader, who served as 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

The former president stated to the judges 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 could not have foreseen that at 70 years of age, I’d be in prison. It’s an challenge that has been imposed on me. I admit it’s difficult, it’s very hard. It has an impact on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.”

He stated he would not attempt to enter into contact with any accused individuals or witnesses 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.”

Legal Team Comments

His legal representative Jean-Michel Darrois, sitting next to him in the prison video link room, said: “Being in solitary confinement has been extremely difficult for him.” He commented on Sarkozy: “He’s a strong, robust and courageous man and this imprisonment has been very painful for him.”

In court, another of Sarkozy’s lawyers, Christophe Ingrain, who had seen him daily, asserted Sarkozy would be safer out of prison than inside. “He has faced death threats, has heard screaming at night and the emergency response in a adjacent room when a prisoner injured themselves,” he stated.

Present Situation

The public attorney Damien Brunet asked that Sarkozy’s request for release be approved. The court will announce its decision on Monday afternoon.

Prison Conditions

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

Reports suggested 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.

Support from the Public

Sarkozy’s social media account last week posted a video of numerous correspondences, cards and packages it said had been delivered to his attention, including a collection, 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

The former leader brought with him a biography of Jesus as well as the classic novel, the famous work in which an wrongly accused individual 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 engaged in a “Faustian pact of dishonesty with one of the most unspeakable dictators of the last three decades.

The accused maintained his innocence and said he had not been involved in a illegal scheme to seek election funding from Libya.

He was found not guilty of three distinct accusations of dishonesty, misuse of Libyan public funds and illegal election campaign funding. After the state prosecutor also challenged these not guilty verdicts, Sarkozy will be judged again 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 biggest corruption trial Sarkozy had faced, he had already been found guilty in two separate cases and lost France’s highest distinction, the Légion d’honneur.

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 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 ankle monitor attached to his leg. He wore the tag for a quarter year before being granted conditional release.