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The former French president has asserted that his time behind bars has been “draining” and an “ordeal” as he appeared via remote connection at a judicial proceeding regarding his application to complete his jail term at home.

Legal Proceeding from Prison

Sarkozy, dressed in a navy blue suit, was visible on screen from jail on Monday, seated at a table with his legal representatives beside him. He told the court: “I want to acknowledge all the correctional officers, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this nightmare bearable – because it is a horrific experience.”

Context of the Legal Situation

Sarkozy entered La Santé prison in Paris on 21 October, after receiving 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 challenged the verdict, but judges ruled that because of the “serious nature” of his guilty verdict, he had to go to prison while the appeals process took its course.

Historical Significance

Sarkozy, 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.

Emotional Testimony

Sarkozy told the court from prison: “I never had any idea or intention to ask Mr Gaddafi for any kind of financing … I will never confess 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 forced upon me. I admit it’s difficult, it’s very hard. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s exhausting.”

He said he would not try to communicate 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

Sarkozy’s lawyer Jean-Michel Darrois, sitting next to him in the prison video link room, stated: “Being in solitary confinement has been very hard for him.” He said of Sarkozy: “He’s a strong, durable 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, said 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 injured themselves,” he said.

Present Situation

The state prosecutor Damien Brunet requested that Sarkozy’s petition for freedom be approved. The court will reveal its ruling on Monday afternoon.

Prison Conditions

The former president has been held in solitary confinement for his own safety, in an individual cell of about 9 sq metres, with his own washing facility and toilet. Two bodyguards are occupying a neighbouring cell to ensure his safety.

Accounts indicated that he had been eating only yoghurt in prison as he feared any food might have been tampered with. He had been given the opportunity to prepare his own meals but refused this.

Support from Outside

Sarkozy’s social media account last week posted a recording of numerous correspondences, postcards and parcels it said had been sent to him, including a collage, a sweet treat 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

Sarkozy took into prison a biography of Jesus as well as The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas’s novel in which an innocent man is sentenced to jail but escapes to take revenge.

Court Case Particulars

During the lengthy court case, the state attorney had told the court that Sarkozy engaged in a “Faustian pact of corruption with one of the most unspeakable dictators of the last 30 years.

The accused denied wrongdoing and stated he had not been part of a illegal scheme to seek election funding from Libya.

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

Prior Legal Issues

Although the allegations of a clandestine financial agreement with the Libyan regime formed the most significant legal case Sarkozy had encountered, he had already been convicted in two separate cases and lost France’s top honor, the national recognition.

Sarkozy had previously become the initial ex-leader forced to wear an monitoring device after being convicted in a separate case of corruption 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 three months before being granted conditional release.