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Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has asserted that his time behind bars has been “exhausting” and an “ordeal” as he was present via remote connection at a court hearing regarding his request to serve his sentence at home.

Court Appearance from Behind Bars

Sarkozy, dressed in a dark blue attire, appeared on camera from jail 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 exceptionally humane, and who have eased this difficult situation – because it is a horrific experience.”

Context of the Legal Situation

The former president entered La Santé prison in Paris on 21 October, after receiving a five-year jail sentence 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 go to prison while the legal challenge proceeded.

Historical Importance

Sarkozy, who served as France’s conservative leader between 2007 and 2012, is the first former head 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 never had any idea or intention to ask Mr Gaddafi for any kind of financing … I will never confess to something I didn’t do … I never imagined that at this stage of life, 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 attempt to enter into contact with any defendants or testifiers in the case. He said: “I’m French, I am patriotic, my family is in France. This ordeal has caused them pain a lot.”

Defense Lawyers Observations

His legal representative Jean-Michel Darrois, positioned beside him in the remote connection facility, stated: “Being in solitary confinement has been very hard for him.” He said of Sarkozy: “He’s a strong, robust and courageous man and this imprisonment has caused him great suffering.”

In court, another of Sarkozy’s lawyers, Christophe Ingrain, who had visited him every day, said 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 request for release be approved. The court will announce its decision on Monday afternoon.

Prison Conditions

Sarkozy has been placed in isolation for his own safety, in an individual cell of about 9 sq metres, with his own washing facility and toilet. Security personnel are occupying a neighbouring cell to ensure his safety.

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 shared a recording of numerous correspondences, postcards and parcels it said had been delivered to his attention, including a collage, a sweet treat and a volume. “No correspondence will go without a response,” his account announced. “The final chapter has not yet been determined.”

Items in Prison

The former leader brought with him a biography of Jesus as well as The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas’s novel in which an wrongly accused individual is imprisoned but escapes to take revenge.

Court Case Particulars

During Sarkozy’s three-month trial, the public prosecutor had informed the judges that Sarkozy engaged in a “Faustian pact of corruption with one of the most unspeakable dictators of the last three decades.

Sarkozy maintained his innocence and said he had not been involved in a illegal scheme to seek election funding 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.

Prior Legal Issues

Although the claims of a clandestine financial agreement with the Libyan regime formed the biggest corruption trial Sarkozy had faced, he had already been found guilty in two separate cases and lost France’s highest distinction, the Légion d’honneur.

Sarkozy had previously become the initial ex-leader forced to wear an monitoring device after being found guilty in a different matter of dishonesty 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 wore the tag for three months before being allowed limited freedom.