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

Legal Proceeding from Behind Bars

Sarkozy, wearing a navy blue suit, was visible on screen 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 exceptionally humane, and who have eased this difficult situation – because it is a horrific experience.”

Context of the Legal Situation

Sarkozy entered La Santé prison in Paris on 21 October, after being handed a half-decade imprisonment for criminal conspiracy over a plan to obtain funds 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 be incarcerated while the appeals process took its course.

Historical Importance

Sarkozy, who served as France’s rightwing president between 2007 and 2012, is the initial ex-leader of an EU country to serve time in prison, and the initial leader since WWII to go behind bars.

Emotional Testimony

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 didn’t do … I never imagined 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 hard, it’s very hard. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.”

He stated he would not attempt to enter into contact with any accused individuals or testifiers 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.”

Legal Team Observations

His legal representative Jean-Michel Darrois, positioned beside him in the prison video link room, said: “Being in isolation has been extremely difficult 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, a different legal representative, Christophe Ingrain, who had seen him daily, said Sarkozy would be safer out of prison than within. “He has faced death threats, has heard screaming at night and the urgent intervention in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner injured themselves,” he stated.

Present Situation

The public attorney Damien Brunet requested that Sarkozy’s request for release be approved. The court will reveal its ruling on Monday afternoon.

Incarceration Details

Sarkozy has been held in solitary confinement for his own safety, in an private room of about 97 square feet, with his own washing facility and restroom. Two bodyguards are stationed nearby to protect him.

Reports indicated that he had been eating only yoghurt in prison as he feared any food might have been tampered with. He had been given the opportunity to cook for himself but refused this.

Encouragement from Outside

His online presence last week posted a recording of piles of letters, cards and packages it said had been sent to him, including a collage, a sweet treat and a volume. “No correspondence will go unanswered,” his account announced. “The final chapter has not yet been determined.”

Personal Belongings

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

Legal Proceedings Particulars

During Sarkozy’s three-month trial, 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 30 years.

Sarkozy denied wrongdoing and said he had not been part of a criminal conspiracy to seek election funding from Libya.

He was acquitted of three separate charges of corruption, improper handling of state money and illegal election campaign funding. After the state prosecutor also appealed against these not guilty verdicts, Sarkozy will be judged again on all the charges next year, including illegal collaboration.

Prior Legal Issues

Although the claims of a secret campaign funding pact with the North African government formed the most significant legal case Sarkozy had faced, he had already been convicted in two different proceedings and lost France’s highest distinction, 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 convicted in a separate case of corruption 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 had the device for a quarter year before being allowed limited freedom.