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Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has asserted that his stay in prison has been “exhausting” and a “nightmare” as he appeared via video link at a court hearing regarding his petition to serve his sentence at home.

Court Appearance from Prison

Sarkozy, wearing a navy blue suit, was visible on screen from prison on Monday, seated at a table with his lawyers 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 horrific experience.”

Context of the Legal Situation

The former president was admitted to the correctional facility in Paris on 21 October, after being handed a five-year jail sentence for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to secure financing 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 “exceptional gravity” of his guilty verdict, he had to go to prison while the legal challenge took its course.

Unprecedented 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 first French postwar leader to go behind bars.

Emotional Testimony

Sarkozy 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 didn’t do … I could not have foreseen that at this stage of life, I’d be in prison. It’s an challenge that has been imposed on me. I confess it’s hard, it’s very hard. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s exhausting.”

He stated he would not try to communicate with any accused individuals or testifiers in the case. He declared: “I’m French, I love my country, my family is in France. This situation has caused them pain a lot.”

Defense Lawyers Observations

His legal representative Jean-Michel Darrois, sitting next to him in the remote connection facility, said: “Being in solitary confinement has been very hard for him.” He commented on Sarkozy: “He’s a resilient, robust and courageous man and this detention has caused him great suffering.”

In court, another of Sarkozy’s lawyers, Christophe Ingrain, who had visited him every day, asserted Sarkozy would be more secure outside jail than inside. “He has received threats against his life, has listened to shouts at night and the emergency response in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner self-harmed,” he stated.

Present Situation

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

The former president has been held in solitary confinement 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.

Accounts 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 cook for himself but refused this.

Support from Outside

His online presence last week posted a recording of numerous correspondences, postcards and parcels it said had been sent to him, including a collection, a chocolate bar and a volume. “No letter will go without a response,” his account declared. “The final chapter has not yet been written.”

Items in Prison

The former leader brought with him a biography of Jesus as well as the classic novel, Alexandre Dumas’s novel in which an innocent man is sentenced to jail but breaks out to seek retribution.

Legal Proceedings Particulars

During Sarkozy’s three-month trial, the state attorney had told the court that Sarkozy engaged in a “corrupt agreement” of dishonesty with one of the most unspeakable dictators of the last three decades.

The accused maintained his innocence and stated he had not been involved in a illegal scheme to seek election funding from Libya.

He was acquitted of three distinct accusations of dishonesty, misuse of Libyan public funds 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 Libyan regime formed the most significant legal case Sarkozy had faced, he had already been convicted in two different proceedings and stripped of France’s top honor, the national recognition.

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 influence peddling. In that case, he was given a one-year jail term but was able to serve it with an ankle monitor attached to his leg. He had the device for three months before being allowed limited freedom.