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The former French president has stated that his stay in prison has been “gruelling” and a “nightmare” as he appeared via remote connection at a judicial proceeding regarding his application to serve his sentence at home.

Court Appearance from Behind Bars

Sarkozy, 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 acknowledge all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this nightmare bearable – because it is a horrific experience.”

Context of the Case

The former president was admitted to La Santé prison in Paris on 21 October, after being handed a half-decade imprisonment for illegal collaboration over a scheme to secure financing for his election bid from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

He has challenged the verdict, but the court ruled that because of the “exceptional gravity” of his guilty verdict, he had to be incarcerated while the legal challenge took its course.

Historical Significance

Sarkozy, 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 be incarcerated.

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 never confess to something I didn’t do … I never imagined that at 70 years of age, I’d be in prison. It’s an challenge that has been forced upon me. I confess it’s hard, it’s very hard. It has an impact 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 said: “I’m French, I am patriotic, my family is in France. This ordeal has made them suffer a lot.”

Defense Lawyers Comments

Sarkozy’s lawyer Jean-Michel Darrois, positioned beside him in the prison video link room, stated: “Being in isolation has been very hard for him.” He said of Sarkozy: “He’s a resilient, durable and courageous man and this imprisonment has caused him great suffering.”

In court, another of Sarkozy’s lawyers, Christophe Ingrain, who had seen him daily, asserted Sarkozy would be safer out of prison than inside. “He has received threats against his life, has listened to shouts at night and the emergency response in a adjacent room when a prisoner injured themselves,” he stated.

Present Situation

The state prosecutor Damien Brunet requested that Sarkozy’s request for release be granted. The court will reveal its ruling on Monday afternoon.

Incarceration Details

The former president has been held in solitary confinement for his own safety, in an individual cell of about 9 sq metres, with his own washing facility and restroom. 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 tampered with. He had been offered the facilities to cook for himself but declined the offer.

Support from the Public

His online presence last week shared a recording of numerous correspondences, cards and parcels it claimed had been delivered to his attention, including a collage, a sweet treat and a book. “No letter will go without a response,” his account announced. “The final chapter has not yet been written.”

Items in Prison

Sarkozy brought with him a biography of Jesus as well as the classic novel, the famous work in which an wrongly accused individual is imprisoned but escapes to take revenge.

Legal Proceedings Details

During Sarkozy’s three-month trial, the state attorney had informed the judges that Sarkozy engaged in a “Faustian pact of corruption with one of the worst rulers of the last 30 years.

The accused maintained his innocence and said he had not been part of a illegal scheme to seek election funding from Libya.

He was acquitted of three separate charges of corruption, misuse of Libyan public funds and unlawful political financing. After the public attorney also appealed against these not guilty verdicts, Sarkozy will be judged again on all the charges next year, including illegal collaboration.

Previous Convictions

Although the claims of a secret campaign funding pact with the Libyan regime formed the most significant legal case Sarkozy had encountered, he had already been convicted in two separate cases and lost France’s highest distinction, the national recognition.

The former president had previously become the first former French head of state forced to wear an electronic tag after being convicted in a different matter of corruption and influence peddling. In that case, he was given a 12-month sentence but was able to serve it with an electronic tag attached to his leg. He had the device for three months before being allowed limited freedom.