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The former French president has stated that his period of incarceration has been “exhausting” and an “ordeal” as he was present via remote connection at a court hearing regarding his request to complete his jail term at home.

Court Appearance from Behind Bars

The former leader, wearing a dark blue attire, appeared on camera from jail on Monday, positioned at a desk with his legal representatives beside him. He informed the judges: “I want to pay tribute to all the correctional officers, who are exceptionally humane, and who have eased this difficult situation – because it is a nightmare.”

Context of the Case

The former president entered La Santé prison in Paris on 21 October, after receiving a half-decade imprisonment for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to obtain funds for his 2007 presidential election campaign from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

He has challenged the ruling, but the court ruled that because of the “serious nature” of his conviction, he had to be incarcerated while the legal challenge proceeded.

Unprecedented Importance

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.

Personal Statement

Sarkozy stated to the judges from prison: “I was completely unaware 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 challenge 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 exhausting.”

He said he would not try to communicate with any defendants or witnesses in the case. He declared: “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, positioned beside him in the remote connection facility, stated: “Being in isolation has been very hard for him.” He said of Sarkozy: “He’s a resilient, 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 outside jail than inside. “He has faced death threats, has listened to shouts at night and the emergency response in a adjacent room when a prisoner injured themselves,” he said.

Current Status

The state prosecutor Damien Brunet asked that Sarkozy’s petition for freedom be granted. The court will announce its decision on Monday afternoon.

Incarceration Details

The former president has been placed in isolation for his own security, in an private room of about 9 sq metres, with his own shower and restroom. Two bodyguards are stationed nearby to ensure his safety.

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 offered the facilities to prepare his own meals but refused this.

Support from Outside

Sarkozy’s social media account last week posted a recording 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 without a response,” his account declared. “The end of the story has not yet been written.”

Personal Belongings

Sarkozy brought with him a biography of Jesus as well as the classic novel, Alexandre Dumas’s novel in which an wrongly accused individual is imprisoned but breaks out to seek retribution.

Legal Proceedings Details

During the lengthy court case, the state attorney had informed the judges that Sarkozy entered into a “corrupt agreement” of corruption with one of the worst rulers of the last three decades.

Sarkozy maintained his innocence and said he had not been part of a illegal scheme to obtain campaign finances from Libya.

He was acquitted of three distinct accusations of corruption, misuse of Libyan public funds and unlawful political financing. After the public attorney also appealed against these not guilty verdicts, Sarkozy will be judged again on all the accusations next year, including illegal collaboration.

Prior Legal Issues

Although the claims of a clandestine financial agreement with the North African government formed the biggest corruption trial Sarkozy had faced, he had already been found guilty in two different proceedings and stripped of France’s highest distinction, the Légion d’honneur.

The former president had previously become the initial ex-leader forced to wear an monitoring device after being convicted in a different matter of dishonesty and influence peddling. In that situation, he was given a 12-month sentence but was able to complete it with an ankle monitor worn around the ankle. He had the device for a quarter year before being granted conditional release.