🔗 Share this article

The former French president has asserted that his period of incarceration has been “exhausting” and a “nightmare” as he was present via remote connection at a judicial proceeding regarding his petition to serve his sentence at home.

Legal Proceeding from Behind Bars

The former leader, wearing a navy blue suit, was visible on screen from prison on Monday, seated at a table with his lawyers beside him. He informed the judges: “I want to acknowledge all the correctional officers, who are remarkably compassionate, and who have made this nightmare bearable – because it is a horrific experience.”

Background of the Legal Situation

The former president entered La Santé prison in Paris on 21 October, after receiving a half-decade imprisonment for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to obtain funds 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 legal challenge took its course.

Unprecedented Importance

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 first French postwar leader to be incarcerated.

Emotional Testimony

Sarkozy told the court from prison: “I was completely unaware or intention to ask Mr Gaddafi for any kind of financing … I will not admit 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 challenge that has been imposed on me. I confess it’s hard, 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 defendants or witnesses in the case. He said: “I’m French, I am patriotic, my family is in France. This situation has caused them pain a lot.”

Defense Lawyers Observations

His legal representative Jean-Michel Darrois, positioned beside him in the remote connection facility, said: “Being in solitary confinement 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 visited him every day, said Sarkozy would be safer out of prison than within. “He has received threats against his life, has heard screaming at night and the emergency response in a adjacent room when a prisoner injured themselves,” he stated.

Current Status

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

Prison Conditions

The former president has been held in solitary confinement for his own safety, in an private room of about 9 sq metres, with his own shower and restroom. Two bodyguards are stationed nearby to protect him.

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 cook for himself but refused this.

Support from the Public

His online presence last week shared a video of piles of letters, postcards and parcels it said had been delivered to his attention, including a collage, a chocolate bar and a volume. “No letter will go unanswered,” his account announced. “The end of the story has not yet been determined.”

Personal Belongings

The former leader took into prison a life story of Christ as well as The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas’s novel in which an wrongly accused individual is imprisoned but breaks out to seek retribution.

Court Case Particulars

During the lengthy court case, the state attorney had informed the judges that Sarkozy entered into a “corrupt agreement” of dishonesty with one of the worst rulers of the last three decades.

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

He was acquitted of three distinct accusations of corruption, improper handling of state money and illegal election campaign funding. After the public attorney also challenged these not guilty verdicts, Sarkozy will be re-tried on all the charges next year, including criminal conspiracy.

Previous Convictions

Although the allegations of a clandestine financial agreement 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 electronic tag after being found guilty in a different matter of dishonesty and improper sway. In that case, he was given a one-year jail term but was able to serve it with an electronic tag worn around the ankle. He wore the tag for three months before being allowed limited freedom.