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The former French president has stated that his period of incarceration has been “gruelling” and a “horrific experience” as he appeared via video link at a judicial proceeding regarding his request to serve his sentence at home.

Legal Proceeding from Prison

Sarkozy, dressed in a dark blue attire, was visible on screen from prison on Monday, positioned at a desk with his lawyers beside him. He told the court: “I want to pay tribute to all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this nightmare bearable – because it is a horrific experience.”

Background of the Case

The former president entered La Santé prison in Paris on 21 October, after receiving a half-decade imprisonment for criminal conspiracy over a plan to secure financing for his election bid from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

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

Historical Significance

The former leader, who was France’s conservative leader 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 be incarcerated.

Emotional Testimony

Sarkozy told the court from prison: “I never had any idea or intention 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 ordeal that has been imposed on me. I confess it’s difficult, it’s very hard. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s exhausting.”

He said he would not attempt to enter into contact with any defendants or witnesses in the case. He declared: “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 remote connection facility, stated: “Being in solitary confinement has been very hard for him.” He said of Sarkozy: “He’s a resilient, durable and courageous man and this detention has caused him great suffering.”

In court, another of Sarkozy’s lawyers, Christophe Ingrain, who had seen him daily, said Sarkozy would be more secure outside jail than within. “He has faced death threats, has listened to shouts at night and the urgent intervention in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner self-harmed,” he stated.

Present Situation

The state prosecutor Damien Brunet requested 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 toilet. Security personnel are stationed nearby to ensure his safety.

Accounts indicated that he had been eating only yoghurt in prison as he feared any food might have been contaminated. He had been given the opportunity to prepare his own meals but refused this.

Encouragement from the Public

Sarkozy’s social media account last week posted a recording of piles of letters, postcards and parcels it said had been delivered to his attention, including a collage, a sweet treat and a book. “No correspondence will go without a response,” 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, the famous work in which an wrongly accused individual is imprisoned but breaks out to take revenge.

Court Case Details

During Sarkozy’s three-month trial, the public prosecutor had informed the judges that Sarkozy engaged in a “Faustian pact of corruption with one of the most unspeakable dictators of the last 30 years.

The accused 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 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 Libyan regime formed the most significant legal case Sarkozy had encountered, he had already been found guilty in two separate cases and lost France’s highest distinction, the Légion d’honneur.

The former president had previously become the initial ex-leader forced to wear an electronic tag after being convicted in a separate case of corruption and influence peddling. In that case, he was given a one-year jail term but was able to serve it with an electronic tag worn around the ankle. He wore the tag for three months before being allowed limited freedom.