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Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has declared that his time behind bars has been “gruelling” and a “nightmare” as he appeared via remote connection at a court hearing regarding his petition to complete his jail term at home.

Court Appearance from Behind Bars

Sarkozy, wearing a dark blue attire, appeared on camera from jail on Monday, positioned at a desk with his lawyers beside him. He told the court: “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 nightmare.”

Background of the Legal Situation

Sarkozy was admitted to 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 2007 presidential election campaign from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

He has appealed against the ruling, but the court ruled that because of the “serious nature” of his guilty verdict, he had to go to prison while the appeals process proceeded.

Unprecedented Importance

The former leader, who served as France’s conservative leader between 2007 and 2012, is the first former head of an EU country to be imprisoned 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 intention to ask Mr Gaddafi for any kind of financing … I will never confess to something I am innocent of … I could not have foreseen that at this stage of life, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal that has been imposed on me. I confess it’s difficult, it’s extremely challenging. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.”

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

Legal Team 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 said of Sarkozy: “He’s a strong, robust and courageous man and this imprisonment has caused him great suffering.”

In court, a different legal representative, Christophe Ingrain, who had seen him daily, asserted Sarkozy would be safer out of prison than within. “He has faced death threats, has heard screaming at night and the emergency response in a adjacent room when a prisoner injured themselves,” he said.

Current Status

The state prosecutor Damien Brunet asked that Sarkozy’s request for release be granted. The court will reveal its ruling on Monday afternoon.

Prison Conditions

The former president has been placed in isolation for his own safety, in an private room of about 97 square feet, with his own washing facility and toilet. Two bodyguards are stationed nearby to protect him.

Accounts suggested that he had been consuming solely yogurt in prison as he feared any food might have been tampered with. He had been offered the facilities to prepare his own meals but declined the offer.

Encouragement from the Public

Sarkozy’s social media account last week posted a recording of numerous correspondences, postcards and parcels it claimed had been sent to him, including a collection, a chocolate bar and a volume. “No correspondence will go without a response,” his account announced. “The final chapter has not yet been determined.”

Personal Belongings

The former leader 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 sentenced to jail but breaks out to seek retribution.

Legal Proceedings Details

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

Sarkozy denied wrongdoing and said he had not been part of a illegal scheme to obtain campaign finances from Libya.

He was acquitted of three distinct accusations of dishonesty, improper handling of state money and illegal election campaign funding. After the state prosecutor also appealed against these acquittals, Sarkozy will be judged again on all the accusations next year, including illegal collaboration.

Prior Legal Issues

Although the allegations 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 separate cases and stripped of France’s highest distinction, the Légion d’honneur.

Sarkozy had previously become the initial ex-leader forced to wear an electronic tag after being found guilty in a separate case of dishonesty and influence peddling. In that situation, he was given a 12-month sentence but was able to serve it with an ankle monitor attached to his leg. He had the device for a quarter year before being allowed limited freedom.