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The former French president has asserted that his stay in prison has been “exhausting” and a “nightmare” as he was present via video link at a court hearing regarding his petition to complete his jail term at home.

Legal Proceeding from Behind Bars

The former leader, wearing a dark blue attire, was visible on screen from prison on Monday, positioned at a desk with his legal representatives beside him. He told the court: “I want to acknowledge all the prison staff, who are remarkably compassionate, and who have made this nightmare bearable – because it is a nightmare.”

Context of the Legal Situation

The former president entered the correctional facility in Paris on 21 October, after being handed a half-decade imprisonment for criminal conspiracy over a plan to obtain funds for his election bid from the government of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

He has challenged the verdict, but the court ruled that because of the “serious nature” of his guilty verdict, he had to go to prison while the legal challenge proceeded.

Historical Significance

The former leader, who served as France’s rightwing president 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 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 not admit 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 ordeal that has been forced upon me. I admit it’s difficult, it’s very hard. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.”

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 am patriotic, my family is in France. This situation has made them suffer a lot.”

Legal Team Comments

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 resilient, robust and brave man and this imprisonment has been very painful for him.”

In court, a different legal representative, Christophe Ingrain, who had seen him daily, asserted Sarkozy would be safer out of prison than inside. “He has received threats against his life, has listened to shouts at night and the urgent intervention in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner self-harmed,” he stated.

Current Status

The public attorney Damien Brunet asked that Sarkozy’s request for release be approved. The court will reveal its ruling on Monday afternoon.

Prison Conditions

Sarkozy has been held in solitary confinement for his own safety, in an private room of about 9 sq metres, with his own washing facility and restroom. Security personnel are stationed nearby to ensure his safety.

Accounts suggested that he had been eating only yoghurt in prison as he was concerned any meal might have been tampered with. He had been offered the facilities to prepare his own meals but refused this.

Support from Outside

His online presence last week shared a video of numerous correspondences, cards and packages it said had been sent to him, including a collection, a sweet treat and a volume. “No correspondence will go without a response,” his account announced. “The end of the story has not yet been written.”

Personal Belongings

Sarkozy took into prison a biography of Jesus 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 take revenge.

Legal Proceedings Particulars

During the lengthy court case, the state attorney had told the court that Sarkozy engaged in a “corrupt agreement” of corruption with one of the worst rulers of the last 30 years.

The accused maintained his innocence and said he had not been involved in a illegal scheme to seek election funding from Libya.

He was acquitted 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 re-tried on all the charges next year, including criminal conspiracy.

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 top honor, the Légion d’honneur.

The former president had previously become the first former French head of state forced to wear an electronic tag after being convicted 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 ankle monitor worn around the ankle. He wore the tag for a quarter year before being granted conditional release.