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The former French president has declared that his period of incarceration has been “draining” and a “nightmare” as he appeared via video link at a court hearing regarding his petition to serve his sentence at home.

Legal Proceeding from Behind Bars

The former leader, dressed in a dark blue attire, appeared on camera from prison on Monday, positioned at a desk with his legal representatives beside him. He informed the judges: “I want to pay tribute to all the correctional officers, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this nightmare bearable – because it is a nightmare.”

Background of the Case

Sarkozy was admitted to La Santé prison in Paris on 21 October, after receiving a half-decade imprisonment 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 appealed against the verdict, but judges ruled that because of the “serious nature” of his conviction, he had to be incarcerated while the legal challenge took its course.

Historical Importance

The former leader, 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 initial leader since WWII to be incarcerated.

Emotional Testimony

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 never imagined that at 70 years of age, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal that has been imposed on me. I confess it’s difficult, it’s very hard. It has an impact 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 said: “I’m French, I love my country, my family is in France. This situation has caused them pain a lot.”

Legal Team Comments

Sarkozy’s lawyer 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 strong, durable and courageous man and this detention has been very painful for him.”

In court, another of Sarkozy’s lawyers, Christophe Ingrain, who had visited him every day, asserted Sarkozy would be safer out of prison than within. “He has received threats against his life, has heard screaming at night and the urgent intervention in a adjacent room when a prisoner injured themselves,” he said.

Current Status

The state prosecutor Damien Brunet requested that Sarkozy’s petition for freedom be granted. The court will announce its decision on Monday afternoon.

Incarceration Details

The former president has been placed in isolation for his own safety, in an private room of about 9 sq metres, with his own shower and toilet. Two bodyguards are occupying a neighbouring cell to protect him.

Accounts indicated 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 prepare his own meals but declined the offer.

Support from Outside

His online presence last week shared a recording of piles of letters, cards and parcels it said had been sent to him, including a collection, a chocolate bar and a book. “No letter will go without a response,” his account announced. “The end of the story has not yet been determined.”

Personal Belongings

Sarkozy took into prison 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 breaks out to seek retribution.

Legal Proceedings Particulars

During Sarkozy’s three-month trial, the public prosecutor had told the court that Sarkozy entered into a “Faustian pact of corruption with one of the worst rulers of the last 30 years.

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

He was found not guilty of three separate charges of corruption, misuse of Libyan public funds and unlawful political financing. After the public attorney also appealed against these acquittals, Sarkozy will be judged again on all the charges next year, including criminal conspiracy.

Previous Convictions

Although the allegations of a secret campaign funding pact with the Libyan regime formed the most significant legal case Sarkozy had encountered, he had already been found guilty in two different proceedings and stripped of France’s highest distinction, the national recognition.

Sarkozy had previously become the first former French head of state forced to wear an monitoring device after being found guilty 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 ankle monitor attached to his leg. He had the device for three months before being granted conditional release.