🔗 Share this article

Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has asserted that his period of incarceration has been “exhausting” and a “horrific experience” as he appeared via video link at a court hearing regarding his application to complete his jail term at home.

Court Appearance from Behind Bars

Sarkozy, dressed in a navy blue suit, appeared on camera from jail on Monday, seated at a table with his legal representatives beside him. He told the court: “I want to pay tribute to all the correctional officers, who are exceptionally humane, and who have eased this difficult situation – because it is a nightmare.”

Background of the Legal Situation

Sarkozy was admitted to the correctional facility in Paris on 21 October, after being handed a half-decade imprisonment for criminal conspiracy 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 verdict, but judges ruled that because of the “exceptional gravity” of his conviction, he had to be incarcerated while the appeals process proceeded.

Unprecedented Significance

Sarkozy, who was 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 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 am innocent of … I never imagined 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 gruelling.”

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

Defense Lawyers Comments

His legal representative Jean-Michel Darrois, sitting next to him in the remote connection facility, stated: “Being in isolation has been very hard for him.” He commented on Sarkozy: “He’s a resilient, durable and brave man and this imprisonment has caused him great suffering.”

In court, another of Sarkozy’s lawyers, Christophe Ingrain, who had visited him every day, asserted Sarkozy would be more secure out of prison 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.

Current Status

The public attorney 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 placed in isolation for his own safety, in an individual cell of about 9 sq metres, with his own shower and restroom. Security personnel are stationed nearby to protect him.

Reports indicated that he had been eating only yoghurt in prison as he feared any food might have been contaminated. He had been offered the facilities to cook for himself but refused this.

Encouragement from the Public

Sarkozy’s social media account last week shared a video of piles of letters, cards and packages it said had been sent to him, including a collage, 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

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 breaks out to take revenge.

Legal Proceedings Details

During Sarkozy’s three-month trial, the public prosecutor had told the court that Sarkozy engaged in a “Faustian pact of corruption with one of the most unspeakable dictators of the last three decades.

Sarkozy 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 distinct accusations of dishonesty, misuse of Libyan public funds and illegal election campaign funding. After the public attorney also challenged these not guilty verdicts, Sarkozy will be re-tried on all the charges next year, including criminal conspiracy.

Previous Convictions

Although the claims of a secret campaign funding pact with the Libyan regime formed the biggest corruption trial Sarkozy had faced, he had already been found guilty in two separate cases and lost France’s top honor, the Légion d’honneur.

The former president had previously become the initial ex-leader forced to wear an monitoring device after being found guilty in a separate case of dishonesty and influence peddling. In that case, he was given a one-year jail term but was able to serve it with an electronic tag attached to his leg. He wore the tag for a quarter year before being granted conditional release.