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The former French president has stated that his period of incarceration has been “draining” and a “nightmare” as he appeared via video link at a court hearing regarding his request to serve his sentence at home.

Legal Proceeding from Prison

The former leader, dressed in a navy blue suit, appeared on camera from jail on Monday, seated at a table with his lawyers beside him. He told the court: “I want to acknowledge all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, and who have eased this difficult situation – because it is a horrific experience.”

Background of the Legal Situation

The former president entered the correctional facility in Paris on 21 October, after receiving a five-year jail sentence for illegal collaboration over a scheme to secure financing for his 2007 presidential election campaign from the government of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

He has challenged the verdict, but the court ruled that because of the “serious nature” of his guilty verdict, he had to go to prison while the legal challenge proceeded.

Historical Significance

Sarkozy, who was France’s conservative leader between 2007 and 2012, is the initial ex-leader of an EU country to serve time in prison, and the first French postwar leader to be incarcerated.

Emotional Testimony

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 not admit 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 hard, 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 accused individuals or testifiers in the case. He said: “I’m French, I love my country, my family is in France. This situation has made them suffer a lot.”

Defense Lawyers Comments

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 said of Sarkozy: “He’s a strong, durable and courageous man and this detention 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 within. “He has faced death threats, has listened to shouts at night and the emergency response in a adjacent room 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 held in solitary confinement 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.

Reports suggested that he had been eating only yoghurt in prison as he was concerned any meal might have been tampered with. He had been given the opportunity to cook for himself but declined the offer.

Support from the Public

Sarkozy’s social media account last week posted a recording of piles of letters, postcards and packages it said had been delivered to his attention, including a collage, a sweet treat 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 biography of Jesus as well as the classic novel, Alexandre Dumas’s novel in which an innocent man is imprisoned but breaks out to take revenge.

Legal Proceedings Details

During Sarkozy’s three-month trial, the state attorney had informed the judges that Sarkozy engaged in a “corrupt agreement” of corruption with one of the worst rulers of the last three decades.

The accused maintained his innocence and stated he had not been involved in a criminal conspiracy to obtain campaign finances from Libya.

He was acquitted of three distinct accusations of dishonesty, improper handling of state money and unlawful political financing. After the state prosecutor also challenged these acquittals, Sarkozy will be judged again on all the accusations next year, including criminal conspiracy.

Prior Legal Issues

Although the claims of a clandestine financial agreement with the Libyan regime formed the most significant legal case Sarkozy had encountered, he had already been found guilty in two separate cases 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 monitoring device after being convicted 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 worn around the ankle. He wore the tag for a quarter year before being granted conditional release.