🔗 Share this article

Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has asserted that his stay in prison 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.

Legal Proceeding from Behind Bars

Sarkozy, wearing a dark blue attire, appeared on camera from jail on Monday, seated at a table with his lawyers beside him. He told the court: “I want to commend all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this nightmare bearable – because it is a nightmare.”

Background of the Legal Situation

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 obtain funds for his 2007 presidential election campaign from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

He has challenged the verdict, but judges ruled that because of the “serious nature” of his guilty verdict, he had to be incarcerated while the appeals process proceeded.

Historical Importance

Sarkozy, who was France’s rightwing president 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 go behind bars.

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 never confess to something I didn’t do … I could not have foreseen that at 70 years of age, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal that has been forced upon me. I confess it’s difficult, it’s extremely challenging. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s exhausting.”

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

Defense Lawyers Comments

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

In court, another of Sarkozy’s lawyers, Christophe Ingrain, who had seen him daily, said Sarkozy would be more secure outside jail than inside. “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.

Present Situation

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

Prison Conditions

The former president has been held in solitary confinement for his own safety, in an private room of about 97 square feet, with his own washing facility and restroom. Security personnel are stationed nearby to ensure his safety.

Reports suggested that he had been consuming solely yogurt in prison as he was concerned any meal might have been tampered with. He had been given the opportunity to prepare his own meals but declined the offer.

Support from Outside

Sarkozy’s social media account last week shared a recording of piles of letters, cards and parcels it claimed had been sent to him, including a collection, a chocolate bar and a volume. “No letter will go without a response,” his account announced. “The end of the story has not yet been determined.”

Items in Prison

The former leader brought with him a biography of Jesus as well as The Count of Monte Cristo, the famous work in which an innocent man is sentenced to jail but escapes to seek retribution.

Court Case Particulars

During Sarkozy’s three-month trial, the state attorney had informed the judges that Sarkozy engaged in a “Faustian pact of dishonesty with one of the most unspeakable dictators 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 acquitted of three distinct accusations of corruption, improper handling of state money and unlawful political financing. After the state prosecutor also challenged these not guilty verdicts, Sarkozy will be re-tried on all the charges next year, including illegal collaboration.

Prior Legal Issues

Although the claims of a clandestine financial agreement 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 national recognition.

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 improper sway. In that situation, he was given a 12-month sentence but was able to complete it with an electronic tag worn around the ankle. He wore the tag for three months before being granted conditional release.