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Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has declared that his stay in prison has been “draining” and a “horrific experience” as he was present via video link at a judicial proceeding regarding his petition to complete his jail term at home.

Court Appearance from Behind Bars

The former leader, wearing a dark blue attire, was visible on screen from jail on Monday, positioned at a desk with his lawyers beside him. He informed the judges: “I want to pay tribute to all the correctional officers, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this nightmare bearable – because it is a horrific experience.”

Background of the Legal Situation

Sarkozy entered the correctional facility in Paris on 21 October, after being handed a five-year jail sentence for illegal collaboration over a scheme to obtain funds for his 2007 presidential election campaign from the government of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

He has appealed against the verdict, but the court ruled that because of the “serious nature” of his guilty verdict, he had to go to prison while the appeals process proceeded.

Historical Importance

The former leader, who was France’s rightwing president between 2007 and 2012, is the first former head of an EU country to be imprisoned in prison, and the first French postwar leader to go behind bars.

Personal Statement

The former president stated to the judges from prison: “I never had any idea or desire 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 this stage of life, 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 has an impact on any prisoner because it’s exhausting.”

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

Legal Team Comments

His legal representative Jean-Michel Darrois, sitting next to him in the prison video link room, stated: “Being in solitary confinement has been very hard for him.” He commented on Sarkozy: “He’s a strong, robust and brave man and this imprisonment has been very painful for him.”

In court, a different legal representative, Christophe Ingrain, who had visited him every day, asserted Sarkozy would be safer outside jail than within. “He has received threats against his life, has heard screaming at night and the urgent intervention in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner self-harmed,” he stated.

Current Status

The state prosecutor Damien Brunet asked that Sarkozy’s request for release be granted. The court will announce its decision on Monday afternoon.

Incarceration Details

The former president has been held in solitary confinement for his own safety, in an private room of about 97 square feet, with his own washing facility and toilet. Two bodyguards are occupying a neighbouring cell to ensure his safety.

Accounts suggested that he had been eating only yoghurt in prison as he was concerned any food might have been contaminated. He had been given the opportunity to cook for himself but refused this.

Encouragement from Outside

His online presence last week posted a recording of piles of letters, cards and packages it claimed had been sent to him, including a collection, a sweet treat and a volume. “No letter will go unanswered,” his account announced. “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 classic novel, the famous work in which an wrongly accused individual is sentenced to jail but escapes to seek retribution.

Court Case Details

During Sarkozy’s three-month trial, 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 part of a criminal conspiracy to seek election funding from Libya.

He was acquitted of three distinct accusations of dishonesty, misuse of Libyan public funds and illegal election campaign funding. After the state prosecutor also appealed against these acquittals, Sarkozy will be judged again on all the charges next year, including illegal collaboration.

Previous Convictions

Although the allegations of a secret campaign funding pact with the North African government formed the biggest corruption trial 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 monitoring device after being found guilty in a different matter of dishonesty and influence peddling. 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 had the device for a quarter year before being granted conditional release.