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Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has asserted that his time behind bars has been “gruelling” and an “ordeal” as he appeared via remote connection at a court hearing regarding his application to serve his sentence at home.

Legal Proceeding from Behind Bars

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

Context of the Case

The former president was admitted to the correctional facility in Paris on 21 October, after being handed a five-year jail sentence for illegal collaboration over a plan to secure financing for his 2007 presidential election campaign from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

He has appealed against the verdict, 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 serve time in prison, and the first French postwar leader to go behind bars.

Emotional Testimony

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 could not have foreseen 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 extremely challenging. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.”

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 ordeal has made them suffer a lot.”

Defense Lawyers Observations

Sarkozy’s lawyer Jean-Michel Darrois, sitting next to him in the remote connection facility, stated: “Being in isolation has been very hard for him.” He said of Sarkozy: “He’s a strong, durable and brave man and this detention has caused him great suffering.”

In court, another of Sarkozy’s lawyers, Christophe Ingrain, who had seen him daily, asserted Sarkozy would be more secure out of prison than inside. “He has received threats against his life, has heard screaming at night and the emergency response in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner injured themselves,” he said.

Current Status

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

Incarceration Details

Sarkozy has been placed in isolation for his own security, in an private room of about 9 sq metres, 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 meal might have been contaminated. He had been given the opportunity to cook for himself but declined the offer.

Encouragement from the Public

Sarkozy’s social media account last week shared a recording of numerous correspondences, cards and parcels it claimed had been sent to him, including a collection, a sweet treat and a volume. “No letter will go unanswered,” his account announced. “The final chapter has not yet been written.”

Items in Prison

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

Court Case Particulars

During Sarkozy’s three-month trial, 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 30 years.

The accused maintained his innocence and said he had not been part of a illegal scheme to obtain campaign finances from Libya.

He was found not guilty of three distinct accusations of dishonesty, misuse of Libyan public funds and unlawful political financing. After the state prosecutor also challenged these not guilty verdicts, Sarkozy will be re-tried on all the accusations next year, including illegal collaboration.

Previous Convictions

Although the allegations of a clandestine financial agreement with the North African government formed the most significant legal case Sarkozy had encountered, he had already been found guilty in two separate cases and lost France’s highest distinction, the national recognition.

The former president had previously become the initial ex-leader forced to wear an monitoring device after being found guilty in a separate case of dishonesty and improper sway. In that case, he was given a 12-month sentence but was able to serve it with an electronic tag attached to his leg. He had the device for three months before being granted conditional release.