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Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has asserted that his stay in prison has been “draining” and an “ordeal” as he appeared via video link at a court hearing regarding his request to serve his sentence at home.

Legal Proceeding from Behind Bars

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

Context of the Case

Sarkozy entered the correctional facility in Paris on 21 October, after receiving a half-decade imprisonment for illegal collaboration over a plan to secure financing for his election bid from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

He has appealed against the ruling, but the court ruled that because of the “exceptional gravity” of his guilty verdict, he had to go to prison while the appeals process took its course.

Unprecedented 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

Sarkozy 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 could not have foreseen that at this stage of life, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal that has been forced upon me. I confess it’s difficult, it’s very hard. It has an impact on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.”

He said he would not try to communicate with any accused individuals or witnesses in the case. He said: “I’m French, I love my country, my family is in France. This situation has caused them pain a lot.”

Defense Lawyers Observations

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

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 faced death threats, has listened to shouts at night and the urgent intervention in a adjacent room when a prisoner self-harmed,” he said.

Current Status

The public attorney Damien Brunet requested that Sarkozy’s petition for freedom be granted. The court will announce its decision on Monday afternoon.

Incarceration Details

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 stationed nearby to ensure his safety.

Reports suggested that he had been consuming solely yogurt in prison as he feared any meal might have been tampered with. He had been given the opportunity to prepare his own meals but declined the offer.

Support from Outside

His online presence last week shared a video of piles of letters, cards and packages it said had been sent to him, including a collection, a chocolate bar and a volume. “No letter will go without a response,” his account announced. “The end of the story has not yet been determined.”

Items in Prison

The former leader took into prison a life story of Christ as well as The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas’s novel in which an innocent man is sentenced to jail but escapes to seek retribution.

Court Case Particulars

During the lengthy court case, the public prosecutor had informed the judges that Sarkozy engaged in a “corrupt agreement” of corruption with one of the most unspeakable dictators of the last three decades.

Sarkozy denied wrongdoing and stated he had not been part of 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 challenged these acquittals, Sarkozy will be re-tried on all the accusations next year, including illegal collaboration.

Prior Legal Issues

Although the claims of a clandestine financial agreement with the Libyan regime formed the biggest corruption trial Sarkozy had faced, he had already been convicted in two separate cases and stripped of France’s highest distinction, the national recognition.

The former president had previously become the initial ex-leader forced to wear an electronic tag after being convicted in a separate case of dishonesty and influence peddling. In that case, he was given a 12-month sentence but was able to complete it with an electronic tag worn around the ankle. He wore the tag for three months before being granted conditional release.