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

Court Appearance from Behind Bars

Sarkozy, wearing a dark blue attire, was visible on screen from jail on Monday, positioned at a desk with his lawyers beside him. He told the court: “I want to acknowledge all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this nightmare bearable – because it is a horrific experience.”

Context of the Legal Situation

Sarkozy entered La Santé prison in Paris on 21 October, after receiving a half-decade imprisonment for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to obtain funds 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 “serious nature” of his guilty verdict, he had to be incarcerated while the legal challenge took its course.

Unprecedented Significance

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 be incarcerated.

Personal Statement

The former president stated to the judges from prison: “I never had any idea or desire to ask Mr Gaddafi for any kind of financing … I will never confess to something I am innocent of … I never imagined that at 70 years of age, I’d be in prison. It’s an challenge 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 gruelling.”

He said he would not try to communicate with any accused individuals or witnesses in the case. He said: “I’m French, I am patriotic, my family is in France. This ordeal has made them suffer a lot.”

Defense Lawyers Comments

Sarkozy’s lawyer Jean-Michel Darrois, sitting next to him in the remote connection facility, said: “Being in isolation has been very hard for him.” He said of 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 visited him every day, asserted Sarkozy would be safer out of prison than inside. “He has received threats against his life, has listened to shouts at night and the urgent intervention in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner self-harmed,” he said.

Current Status

The public attorney Damien Brunet requested that Sarkozy’s petition for freedom be granted. The court will reveal its ruling on Monday afternoon.

Incarceration Details

Sarkozy has been held in solitary confinement for his own safety, in an individual cell of about 9 sq metres, with his own shower and toilet. Two bodyguards are stationed nearby to ensure his safety.

Reports indicated that he had been consuming solely yogurt in prison as he feared any food might have been contaminated. He had been offered the facilities to cook for himself but declined the offer.

Support from Outside

His online presence last week posted a recording of numerous correspondences, postcards and parcels it claimed had been delivered to his attention, including a collection, a chocolate bar and a volume. “No letter will go unanswered,” his account announced. “The end of the story has not yet been written.”

Items in Prison

Sarkozy brought with him a life story of Christ as well as The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas’s novel in which an innocent man is imprisoned but escapes to seek retribution.

Legal Proceedings Details

During the lengthy court case, the state attorney had informed the judges that Sarkozy engaged in a “Faustian pact of corruption with one of the worst rulers of the last three decades.

The accused maintained his innocence and said he had not been involved in a criminal conspiracy to obtain campaign finances from Libya.

He was found not guilty of three distinct accusations of corruption, misuse of Libyan public funds and illegal election campaign funding. After the public attorney also appealed against these acquittals, Sarkozy will be re-tried on all the accusations next year, including criminal conspiracy.

Previous Convictions

Although the allegations of a clandestine financial agreement with the North African government formed the most significant legal case Sarkozy had faced, he had already been convicted in two different proceedings and lost France’s top honor, the Légion d’honneur.

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 dishonesty and improper sway. In that situation, he was given a one-year jail term but was able to complete it with an ankle monitor attached to his leg. He wore the tag for a quarter year before being allowed limited freedom.