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Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has asserted that his stay in prison has been “gruelling” and an “ordeal” as he was present via remote connection at a judicial proceeding regarding his petition to serve his sentence at home.

Legal Proceeding from Prison

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

Context of the Case

Sarkozy was admitted to La Santé prison in Paris on 21 October, after receiving a five-year jail sentence for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to obtain funds for his election bid 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 guilty verdict, he had to be incarcerated while the appeals process took its course.

Historical 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 go behind bars.

Emotional Testimony

Sarkozy told the court from prison: “I was completely unaware or desire to ask Mr Gaddafi for any kind of financing … I will never confess to something I didn’t do … I never imagined that at this stage of life, I’d be in prison. It’s an challenge that has been imposed on me. I admit it’s difficult, it’s extremely challenging. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.”

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

Defense Lawyers Comments

His legal representative Jean-Michel Darrois, positioned beside him in the prison video link room, stated: “Being in solitary confinement has been extremely difficult for him.” He commented on Sarkozy: “He’s a resilient, robust and courageous 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 outside jail than within. “He has received threats against his life, has heard screaming at night and the urgent intervention in a adjacent room when a prisoner injured themselves,” he said.

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 stationed nearby to protect him.

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

Support from Outside

Sarkozy’s social media account last week shared a recording of piles of letters, cards and packages it claimed had been sent to him, including a collage, a sweet treat and a book. “No letter will go unanswered,” his account announced. “The final chapter has not yet been determined.”

Items in Prison

Sarkozy brought with him a biography of Jesus as well as The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas’s novel in which an innocent man is imprisoned but breaks out to take revenge.

Legal Proceedings Particulars

During the lengthy court case, the public prosecutor had told the court that Sarkozy entered into a “Faustian pact of dishonesty with one of the most unspeakable dictators of the last 30 years.

The accused denied wrongdoing and said he had not been part of a criminal conspiracy to obtain campaign finances from Libya.

He was acquitted of three distinct accusations of dishonesty, improper handling of state money and illegal election campaign funding. After the state prosecutor also challenged these acquittals, Sarkozy will be re-tried 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 biggest corruption trial Sarkozy had encountered, he had already been convicted in two different proceedings and stripped of France’s top honor, the national recognition.

Sarkozy had previously become the initial ex-leader forced to wear an electronic tag after being found guilty in a separate case of corruption and influence peddling. In that situation, he was given a 12-month sentence but was able to complete it with an electronic tag worn around the ankle. He wore the tag for a quarter year before being allowed limited freedom.