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The former French president has asserted that his time behind bars has been “gruelling” and a “horrific experience” as he appeared via remote connection at a court hearing regarding his request to serve his sentence at home.

Court Appearance from Prison

Sarkozy, dressed in a navy blue suit, appeared on camera from prison on Monday, positioned at a desk with his lawyers beside him. He told the court: “I want to commend all the prison staff, who are remarkably compassionate, and who have made this nightmare bearable – because it is a horrific experience.”

Background of the Case

The former president entered the correctional facility in Paris on 21 October, after being handed a half-decade imprisonment for criminal conspiracy over a plan 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 “exceptional gravity” of his guilty verdict, he had to be incarcerated while the appeals process took its course.

Unprecedented Importance

The former leader, who was 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 be incarcerated.

Personal Statement

The former president stated to the judges 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 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 admit it’s difficult, it’s very hard. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.”

He said he would not attempt to enter into contact with any defendants or witnesses in the case. He said: “I’m French, I am patriotic, my family is in France. This ordeal has made them suffer a lot.”

Legal Team Observations

His legal representative 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 commented on 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, asserted Sarkozy would be more secure out of prison than inside. “He has faced death threats, has heard screaming at night and the urgent intervention in a adjacent room when a prisoner injured themselves,” he said.

Current Status

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

Prison Conditions

The former president has been placed in isolation for his own safety, in an individual cell of about 9 sq metres, with his own washing facility and restroom. Security personnel are stationed nearby to ensure his safety.

Reports suggested that he had been consuming solely yogurt in prison as he was concerned any meal might have been tampered with. He had been offered the facilities to cook for himself but declined the offer.

Support from the Public

His online presence last week shared a recording of numerous correspondences, cards and parcels it said had been sent to him, including a collection, a chocolate bar and a volume. “No correspondence will go unanswered,” his account declared. “The final chapter has not yet been determined.”

Personal Belongings

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 imprisoned but breaks out to seek retribution.

Court Case Particulars

During the lengthy court case, the public prosecutor had informed the judges that Sarkozy engaged in a “Faustian pact of dishonesty with one of the most unspeakable dictators of the last three decades.

The accused denied wrongdoing and said he had not been part of a criminal conspiracy 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 state prosecutor also challenged these acquittals, Sarkozy will be re-tried on all the charges 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 found guilty in two different proceedings and lost France’s top honor, the Légion d’honneur.

The former president had previously become the first former French head of state forced to wear an monitoring device after being found guilty in a different matter of corruption and influence peddling. In that situation, he was given a one-year jail term but was able to serve it with an ankle monitor worn around the ankle. He wore the tag for three months before being allowed limited freedom.