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Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has declared that his stay in prison has been “draining” and a “nightmare” as he was present via video link at a court hearing regarding his request to serve his sentence at home.

Legal Proceeding from Behind Bars

The former leader, dressed in a dark blue attire, was visible on screen from jail on Monday, positioned at a desk with his legal representatives beside him. He informed the judges: “I want to acknowledge all the correctional officers, who are remarkably compassionate, and who have eased this difficult situation – because it is a nightmare.”

Background 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 plan to secure financing for his election bid from the government of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

He has appealed against the ruling, but judges 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 be imprisoned in prison, and the first French postwar leader to go behind bars.

Personal Statement

Sarkozy told the court from prison: “I never had any idea 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 this stage of life, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal that has been forced upon me. I confess it’s hard, it’s very hard. 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 witnesses 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 Comments

Sarkozy’s lawyer Jean-Michel Darrois, sitting next to 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 caused him great suffering.”

In court, a different legal representative, Christophe Ingrain, who had seen him daily, said Sarkozy would be more secure 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 self-harmed,” he stated.

Present Situation

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

Sarkozy has been placed in isolation for his own security, in an individual cell of about 9 sq metres, with his own shower and toilet. Security personnel are stationed nearby to protect him.

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 cook for himself but declined the offer.

Support from the Public

His online presence last week shared a recording of numerous correspondences, postcards and parcels it claimed had been delivered to his attention, including a collage, a chocolate bar and a book. “No letter will go unanswered,” his account announced. “The final chapter has not yet been determined.”

Items in Prison

The former leader took into prison a biography of Jesus as well as the classic novel, Alexandre Dumas’s novel in which an wrongly accused individual is sentenced to jail but breaks out to take revenge.

Legal Proceedings Details

During Sarkozy’s three-month trial, the state attorney had informed the judges that Sarkozy entered into a “Faustian pact of dishonesty with one of the worst rulers of the last three decades.

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

He was acquitted of three separate charges of dishonesty, misuse of Libyan public funds and illegal election campaign funding. After the state prosecutor also challenged these acquittals, Sarkozy will be re-tried on all the charges next year, including criminal conspiracy.

Previous Convictions

Although the claims of a secret campaign funding pact with the North African government formed the most significant legal case Sarkozy had encountered, 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 electronic tag after being found guilty in a different matter of dishonesty and influence peddling. In that situation, he was given a one-year jail term but was able to serve it with an electronic tag attached to his leg. He had the device for three months before being allowed limited freedom.