🔗 Share this article

Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has declared that his stay in prison has been “draining” and a “nightmare” as he appeared via video link at a court hearing regarding his request to complete his jail term at home.

Legal Proceeding from Behind Bars

The former leader, dressed in a dark blue attire, appeared on camera 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 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 criminal conspiracy over a scheme to secure financing for his election bid from the government of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

He has appealed against the ruling, but the court ruled that because of the “serious nature” of his guilty verdict, he had to be incarcerated while the legal challenge took its course.

Historical 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 be imprisoned in prison, and the initial leader since WWII to be incarcerated.

Emotional Testimony

The former president told the court 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 imposed on me. I confess it’s hard, it’s very hard. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s exhausting.”

He said he would not attempt to enter into contact with any defendants or testifiers 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 Comments

Sarkozy’s lawyer Jean-Michel Darrois, sitting next to him in the prison video link room, said: “Being in solitary confinement has been extremely difficult for him.” He said of Sarkozy: “He’s a strong, robust and brave man and this imprisonment has caused him great suffering.”

In court, a different legal representative, 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 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.

Incarceration Details

Sarkozy has been placed in isolation for his own safety, in an individual cell of about 9 sq metres, with his own shower and restroom. Two bodyguards are occupying a neighbouring cell to ensure his safety.

Reports indicated that he had been eating only yoghurt in prison as he was concerned any meal might have been contaminated. He had been offered the facilities to cook for himself but declined the offer.

Support from the Public

His online presence last week shared a video of piles of letters, postcards and packages it claimed had been delivered to his attention, including a collection, a sweet treat and a volume. “No letter will go without a response,” his account declared. “The end of the story has not yet been determined.”

Items in Prison

The former leader took into prison a life story of Christ as well as the classic novel, the famous work in which an innocent man is sentenced to jail but escapes to seek retribution.

Legal Proceedings Details

During the lengthy court case, the state attorney had told the court that Sarkozy engaged in a “Faustian pact of dishonesty with one of the worst rulers of the last three decades.

Sarkozy denied wrongdoing and stated he had not been part of a illegal scheme to obtain campaign finances from Libya.

He was acquitted of three distinct accusations of dishonesty, misuse of Libyan public funds and unlawful political financing. After the public attorney also challenged these not guilty verdicts, Sarkozy will be judged again on all the charges next year, including illegal collaboration.

Previous Convictions

Although the allegations of a clandestine financial agreement with the Libyan regime formed the most significant legal case Sarkozy had faced, he had already been found guilty in two separate cases and lost France’s top honor, the national recognition.

The former president had previously become the first former French head of state forced to wear an monitoring device after being convicted in a different matter of corruption and influence peddling. In that case, he was given a one-year jail term but was able to complete it with an electronic tag attached to his leg. He wore the tag for three months before being allowed limited freedom.