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Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has asserted that his stay in prison has been “exhausting” and a “horrific experience” as he was present via remote connection at a court hearing regarding his petition to complete his jail term at home.

Legal Proceeding from Prison

Sarkozy, dressed in a navy blue suit, appeared on camera from prison on Monday, seated at a table with his lawyers beside him. He informed the judges: “I want to pay tribute to all the prison staff, who are remarkably compassionate, and who have eased this difficult situation – because it is a nightmare.”

Background of the Legal Situation

The former president was admitted to La Santé prison in Paris on 21 October, after being handed a half-decade imprisonment for illegal collaboration over a plan to obtain funds for his election bid from the regime 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 Importance

Sarkozy, who was France’s conservative leader between 2007 and 2012, is the first former head of an EU country to serve time in prison, and the first French postwar leader to go behind bars.

Emotional Testimony

Sarkozy 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 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 imposed on me. I confess it’s difficult, it’s very hard. It has an impact on any prisoner because it’s exhausting.”

He stated he would not try to communicate with any defendants or witnesses in the case. He said: “I’m French, I love my country, my family is in France. This ordeal has made them suffer a lot.”

Defense Lawyers Observations

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

In court, another of Sarkozy’s lawyers, Christophe Ingrain, who had seen him daily, asserted Sarkozy would be safer outside jail than inside. “He has received threats against his life, has listened to shouts at night and the emergency response in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner injured themselves,” he stated.

Current Status

The state prosecutor 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 private room of about 97 square feet, 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 prepare his own meals but refused this.

Support from the Public

Sarkozy’s social media account last week shared a recording of piles of letters, postcards and parcels it claimed had been delivered to his attention, including a collection, a chocolate bar and a book. “No correspondence will go without a response,” his account declared. “The end of the story has not yet been written.”

Items in Prison

Sarkozy took into prison a biography of Jesus as well as the classic novel, Alexandre Dumas’s novel in which an innocent man is sentenced to jail but escapes to take revenge.

Court Case Details

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

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

He was found not guilty of three separate charges of corruption, misuse of Libyan public funds and illegal election campaign funding. After the public attorney also challenged these acquittals, Sarkozy will be judged again on all the charges next year, including illegal collaboration.

Previous Convictions

Although the claims of a secret campaign funding pact with the North African government formed the most significant legal case Sarkozy had faced, he had already been convicted in two separate cases and lost France’s highest distinction, 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 separate case of dishonesty and improper sway. In that situation, he was given a one-year jail term but was able to serve it with an electronic tag worn around the ankle. He had the device for three months before being granted conditional release.