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The former French president has stated that his time behind bars has been “exhausting” and a “nightmare” as he was present via video link at a judicial proceeding regarding his request to complete his jail term at home.

Legal Proceeding from Behind Bars

The former leader, dressed in a dark blue attire, was visible on screen from prison on Monday, positioned at a desk with his legal representatives beside him. He told the court: “I want to commend all the correctional officers, who are remarkably compassionate, and who have eased this difficult situation – because it is a nightmare.”

Context of the Legal Situation

Sarkozy entered La Santé prison 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 verdict, but the court ruled that because of the “exceptional gravity” of his guilty verdict, he had to go to prison while the appeals process proceeded.

Historical Significance

Sarkozy, who was France’s rightwing president between 2007 and 2012, is the first former head of an EU country to serve time in prison, and the first French postwar leader to go behind bars.

Emotional Testimony

The former president stated to the judges from prison: “I was completely unaware or desire 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 imposed on me. I admit it’s hard, it’s extremely challenging. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s exhausting.”

He said he would not try to communicate with any accused individuals or witnesses in the case. He declared: “I’m French, I am patriotic, my family is in France. This ordeal 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 commented on Sarkozy: “He’s a strong, durable and courageous man and this detention has been very painful for him.”

In court, a different legal representative, Christophe Ingrain, who had seen him daily, asserted Sarkozy would be more secure out of prison than inside. “He has received threats against his life, has heard screaming at night and the emergency response in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner injured themselves,” he stated.

Present Situation

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

Prison Conditions

The former president has been placed in isolation for his own security, in an individual cell of about 97 square feet, with his own shower and restroom. Two bodyguards are stationed nearby to protect him.

Accounts indicated that he had been consuming solely yogurt in prison as he feared any food might have been contaminated. He had been given the opportunity to prepare his own meals but declined the offer.

Encouragement from Outside

Sarkozy’s social media account last week posted a video of piles of letters, cards and packages it claimed had been sent to him, including a collection, a sweet treat and a book. “No letter will go unanswered,” 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 classic novel, Alexandre Dumas’s novel in which an innocent man is sentenced to jail but escapes to take revenge.

Legal Proceedings Details

During the lengthy court case, the state attorney had told the court that Sarkozy entered into a “Faustian pact of corruption with one of the worst rulers of the last three decades.

The accused 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 dishonesty, improper handling of state money and unlawful political financing. After the state prosecutor also appealed against 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 highest distinction, the national recognition.

The former president had previously become the first former French head of state forced to wear an electronic tag after being convicted 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 electronic tag attached to his leg. He wore the tag for a quarter year before being granted conditional release.