🔗 Share this article

The former French president has asserted that his time behind bars has been “draining” and a “nightmare” as he appeared via video link at a judicial proceeding regarding his petition to complete his jail term at home.

Court Appearance from Prison

Sarkozy, wearing a navy blue suit, appeared on camera from prison on Monday, positioned at a desk with his lawyers beside him. He informed the judges: “I want to acknowledge all the correctional officers, who are exceptionally humane, and who have eased this difficult situation – because it is a horrific experience.”

Background of the Case

Sarkozy entered the correctional facility in Paris on 21 October, after receiving a half-decade imprisonment for illegal collaboration over a scheme to obtain funds for his 2007 presidential election campaign from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

He has appealed against the ruling, but judges ruled that because of the “exceptional gravity” of his guilty verdict, he had to go to prison while the appeals process proceeded.

Historical Importance

Sarkozy, who served as France’s conservative leader between 2007 and 2012, is the first former head of an EU country to serve time in prison, and the initial leader since WWII to be incarcerated.

Personal Statement

The former president told the court 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 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 admit 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 testifiers in the case. He said: “I’m French, I am patriotic, my family is in France. This ordeal has caused them pain 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 commented on 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 visited him every day, asserted Sarkozy would be more secure outside jail than within. “He has faced death threats, has heard screaming at night and the urgent intervention in a adjacent room when a prisoner injured themselves,” he said.

Present Situation

The state prosecutor Damien Brunet requested that Sarkozy’s petition for freedom be approved. The court will reveal its ruling on Monday afternoon.

Incarceration Details

Sarkozy has been held in solitary confinement for his own security, in an individual cell of about 9 sq metres, with his own washing facility and toilet. Two bodyguards are stationed nearby to protect him.

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

Support from Outside

His online presence last week posted a recording of numerous correspondences, postcards and packages it said had been sent to him, including a collection, 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

The former leader 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 imprisoned but breaks out to take revenge.

Legal Proceedings Particulars

During Sarkozy’s three-month trial, the public prosecutor had told the court that Sarkozy entered into a “corrupt agreement” of dishonesty 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 criminal conspiracy to obtain campaign finances from Libya.

He was acquitted of three separate charges of corruption, improper handling of state money and illegal election campaign funding. After the state prosecutor also challenged these not guilty verdicts, Sarkozy will be judged again on all the charges next year, including illegal collaboration.

Prior Legal Issues

Although the allegations of a secret campaign funding pact with the Libyan regime formed the biggest corruption trial Sarkozy had encountered, he had already been found guilty in two different proceedings and stripped of France’s top honor, the Légion d’honneur.

Sarkozy had previously become the first former French head of state forced to wear an monitoring device after being found guilty in a separate case of corruption and improper sway. In that situation, he was given a 12-month sentence but was able to serve it with an ankle monitor attached to his leg. He wore the tag for three months before being allowed limited freedom.