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Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has asserted that his period of incarceration has been “gruelling” and an “ordeal” as he appeared via remote connection at a court hearing regarding his petition to serve his sentence at home.

Court Appearance from Prison

The former leader, dressed in 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 acknowledge all the prison staff, who are remarkably compassionate, and who have made this nightmare bearable – because it is a horrific experience.”

Context of the Legal Situation

The former president was admitted to La Santé prison in Paris on 21 October, after receiving a five-year jail sentence for criminal conspiracy over a plan to secure financing for his election bid from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

He has challenged the verdict, but the court ruled that because of the “exceptional gravity” of his conviction, 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 initial ex-leader of an EU country to be imprisoned in prison, and the first French postwar leader to be incarcerated.

Personal Statement

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 not admit 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 ordeal that has been forced upon me. I admit it’s difficult, it’s extremely challenging. It has an impact on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.”

He stated 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 situation has made them suffer a lot.”

Legal Team Observations

Sarkozy’s lawyer Jean-Michel Darrois, sitting next to him in the prison video link room, stated: “Being in solitary confinement has been very hard for him.” He commented on Sarkozy: “He’s a resilient, durable and courageous man and this imprisonment has been very painful for him.”

In court, a different legal representative, Christophe Ingrain, who had seen him daily, said Sarkozy would be more secure outside jail than within. “He has received threats against his life, has heard screaming at night and the emergency response in a adjacent room when a prisoner injured themselves,” he stated.

Present Situation

The public attorney Damien Brunet asked that Sarkozy’s request for release be granted. The court will announce its decision on Monday afternoon.

Incarceration Details

Sarkozy has been held in solitary confinement for his own security, in an private room of about 9 sq metres, with his own shower and toilet. Two bodyguards are stationed nearby to protect him.

Reports indicated that he had been eating only yoghurt in prison as he was concerned any food might have been contaminated. He had been given the opportunity to cook for himself but declined the offer.

Support from Outside

His online presence last week posted a recording of numerous correspondences, cards and parcels it said had been sent to him, including a collection, a sweet treat and a book. “No correspondence will go unanswered,” his account declared. “The final chapter has not yet been written.”

Personal Belongings

The former leader 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 breaks out to take revenge.

Court Case Details

During Sarkozy’s three-month trial, the state attorney 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.

The accused maintained his innocence and said he had not been involved in a criminal conspiracy 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 challenged these not guilty verdicts, Sarkozy will be judged again on all the accusations next year, including criminal conspiracy.

Previous Convictions

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 highest distinction, the Légion d’honneur.

Sarkozy had previously become the first former French head of state forced to wear an electronic tag after being convicted in a separate case of corruption and improper sway. In that case, he was given a one-year jail term but was able to serve it with an ankle monitor worn around the ankle. He wore the tag for a quarter year before being granted conditional release.