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The former French president has asserted that his period of incarceration has been “draining” and an “ordeal” as he appeared via remote connection at a judicial proceeding regarding his application to complete his jail term at home.

Court Appearance from Behind Bars

The former leader, dressed in a navy blue suit, was visible on screen from jail on Monday, seated at a table with his lawyers beside him. He told the court: “I want to commend all the correctional officers, who are remarkably compassionate, and who have eased this difficult situation – because it is a horrific experience.”

Background of the Legal Situation

Sarkozy entered the correctional facility in Paris on 21 October, after being handed a five-year jail sentence for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to secure financing for his 2007 presidential election campaign from the government of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

He has challenged the ruling, but judges ruled that because of the “serious nature” of his conviction, he had to go to prison while the appeals process proceeded.

Unprecedented Importance

The former leader, who was France’s rightwing president between 2007 and 2012, is the initial ex-leader of an EU country to serve time in prison, and the first French postwar leader to be incarcerated.

Personal Statement

Sarkozy told the court from prison: “I was completely unaware 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 admit it’s hard, it’s extremely challenging. It has an impact on any prisoner because it’s exhausting.”

He stated he would not attempt to enter into contact with any accused individuals or witnesses in the case. He declared: “I’m French, I love my country, my family is in France. This ordeal has made them suffer a lot.”

Legal Team Observations

His legal representative Jean-Michel Darrois, positioned beside him in the prison video link room, said: “Being in isolation has been very hard for him.” He said of Sarkozy: “He’s a strong, durable and courageous man and this imprisonment has caused him great suffering.”

In court, a different legal representative, Christophe Ingrain, who had seen him daily, said Sarkozy would be safer outside jail than within. “He has received threats against his life, has heard screaming at night and the emergency response in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner self-harmed,” he stated.

Present Situation

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

Prison Conditions

The former president 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 occupying a neighbouring cell to protect him.

Accounts indicated that he had been eating only yoghurt in prison as he feared any food might have been contaminated. He had been given the opportunity to prepare his own meals but declined the offer.

Support from the Public

His online presence last week shared a video of numerous correspondences, postcards and parcels it said had been sent to him, including a collage, a sweet treat and a book. “No correspondence will go unanswered,” his account announced. “The end of the story has not yet been written.”

Personal Belongings

The former leader took into prison a life story of Christ as well as the classic novel, the famous work in which an wrongly accused individual is imprisoned but escapes to seek retribution.

Court Case Particulars

During the lengthy court case, the public prosecutor had told the court that Sarkozy entered into a “corrupt agreement” of dishonesty with one of the worst rulers of the last 30 years.

The accused denied wrongdoing and stated he had not been involved in a illegal scheme 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 not guilty verdicts, Sarkozy will be judged again 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 faced, he had already been found guilty in two different proceedings and stripped of France’s top honor, the Légion d’honneur.

The former president had previously become the first former French head of state forced to wear an monitoring device after being convicted in a different matter of corruption and influence peddling. In that case, he was given a 12-month sentence but was able to complete it with an electronic tag attached to his leg. He had the device for a quarter year before being allowed limited freedom.