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The former French president has declared that his stay in prison has been “gruelling” and an “ordeal” as he appeared via remote connection at a court hearing regarding his application to complete his jail term at home.

Legal Proceeding from Prison

The former leader, dressed in a dark blue attire, was visible on screen from prison on Monday, seated at a table with his legal representatives beside him. He informed the judges: “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.”

Background of the Legal Situation

Sarkozy was admitted to La Santé prison in Paris on 21 October, after receiving a half-decade imprisonment for illegal collaboration over a plan to secure financing for his election bid from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

He has appealed against the verdict, but judges ruled that because of the “serious nature” of his guilty verdict, he had to be incarcerated while the legal challenge proceeded.

Unprecedented Significance

Sarkozy, who served as France’s rightwing president between 2007 and 2012, is the initial ex-leader of an EU country to serve time in prison, and the initial leader since WWII to go behind bars.

Personal Statement

The former president stated to the judges from prison: “I was completely unaware or intention to ask Mr Gaddafi for any kind of financing … I will never confess to something I didn’t do … I never imagined that at 70 years of age, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal that has been imposed on me. I confess it’s difficult, it’s very hard. It has an impact on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.”

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

Defense Lawyers Comments

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

In court, a different legal representative, Christophe Ingrain, who had visited him every day, 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 self-harmed,” he stated.

Present Situation

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

Incarceration Details

The former president has been held in solitary confinement for his own safety, in an individual cell of about 9 sq metres, with his own shower and restroom. Security personnel are stationed nearby to protect him.

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

Encouragement from the Public

His online presence last week shared a recording of piles of letters, postcards and parcels it claimed had been sent to him, including a collage, a sweet treat and a book. “No correspondence will go without a response,” his account declared. “The end of the story has not yet been determined.”

Items in Prison

Sarkozy brought with him a life story of Christ as well as The Count of Monte Cristo, the famous work in which an wrongly accused individual is sentenced to jail but escapes to seek retribution.

Legal Proceedings Details

During Sarkozy’s three-month trial, the public prosecutor had informed the judges that Sarkozy engaged in a “corrupt agreement” of corruption with one of the worst rulers of the last 30 years.

The accused denied wrongdoing and stated he had not been involved in a criminal conspiracy to seek election funding from Libya.

He was found not guilty 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 re-tried on all the charges next year, including illegal collaboration.

Prior Legal Issues

Although the claims 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 separate cases and stripped of France’s top honor, the Légion d’honneur.

Sarkozy had previously become the initial ex-leader forced to wear an monitoring device after being convicted in a different matter of dishonesty and improper sway. In that situation, he was given a 12-month sentence but was able to serve it with an electronic tag attached to his leg. He wore the tag for three months before being allowed limited freedom.