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The former French president has declared that his time behind bars has been “draining” and an “ordeal” as he appeared via remote connection at a judicial proceeding regarding his petition to serve his sentence at home.

Legal Proceeding from Behind Bars

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

Context of the Case

The former president was admitted to the correctional facility in Paris on 21 October, after being handed a half-decade imprisonment for criminal conspiracy over a scheme 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 the court ruled that because of the “exceptional gravity” of his guilty verdict, he had to be incarcerated while the appeals process proceeded.

Historical Importance

Sarkozy, who served as France’s rightwing president between 2007 and 2012, is the first former head of an EU country to be imprisoned in prison, and the initial leader since WWII to go behind bars.

Personal Statement

The former president told the court from prison: “I was completely unaware or intention to ask Mr Gaddafi for any kind of financing … I will not admit to something I am innocent of … I could not have foreseen that at 70 years of age, 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 stated he would not try to communicate with any accused individuals or testifiers in the case. He declared: “I’m French, I love my country, my family is in France. This ordeal has made them suffer a lot.”

Defense Lawyers Comments

His legal representative Jean-Michel Darrois, sitting next to him in the remote connection facility, said: “Being in isolation has been extremely difficult for him.” He commented on Sarkozy: “He’s a resilient, robust and brave man and this imprisonment has been very painful for him.”

In court, another of Sarkozy’s lawyers, Christophe Ingrain, who had visited him every day, said Sarkozy would be more secure outside jail than inside. “He has received threats against his life, has heard screaming at night and the urgent intervention in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner self-harmed,” he stated.

Current Status

The state prosecutor Damien Brunet asked that Sarkozy’s request for release be granted. The court will reveal its ruling on Monday afternoon.

Incarceration Details

The former president has been placed in isolation for his own safety, in an individual cell of about 97 square feet, with his own washing facility and toilet. Security personnel are stationed nearby to protect him.

Accounts suggested that he had been eating only yoghurt in prison as he was concerned any food might have been tampered with. He had been offered the facilities to prepare his own meals but refused this.

Support from the Public

His online presence last week shared a video of numerous correspondences, cards and packages it claimed had been delivered to his attention, including a collage, a sweet treat and a volume. “No letter will go unanswered,” his account declared. “The final chapter has not yet been determined.”

Items in Prison

Sarkozy took into prison a biography of Jesus as well as the classic novel, the famous work in which an innocent man is sentenced to jail but breaks out to take revenge.

Legal Proceedings Details

During the lengthy court case, the public prosecutor 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 part of a criminal conspiracy to obtain campaign finances from Libya.

He was acquitted of three separate charges of corruption, improper handling of state money and unlawful political financing. After the state prosecutor also appealed against these acquittals, Sarkozy will be judged again on all the charges next year, including illegal collaboration.

Previous Convictions

Although the claims of a secret campaign funding pact with the Libyan regime formed the most significant legal case Sarkozy had faced, 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 corruption and improper sway. In that situation, he was given a one-year jail term but was able to complete it with an electronic tag worn around the ankle. He had the device for a quarter year before being allowed limited freedom.