🔗 Share this article

The former French president has asserted that his stay in prison has been “exhausting” and an “ordeal” as he appeared via remote connection at a court hearing regarding his application to complete his jail term at home.

Legal Proceeding from Prison

Sarkozy, wearing a navy blue suit, appeared on camera from jail on Monday, positioned at a desk with his legal representatives beside him. He told the court: “I want to pay tribute to all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, and who have eased this difficult situation – 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 half-decade imprisonment for criminal conspiracy over a plan to secure financing for his 2007 presidential election campaign from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

He has appealed against 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 Significance

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 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 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 ordeal that has been forced upon me. I confess it’s difficult, it’s extremely challenging. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.”

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

Defense Lawyers Observations

Sarkozy’s lawyer Jean-Michel Darrois, sitting next to him in the prison video link room, said: “Being in isolation has been extremely difficult for him.” He commented on Sarkozy: “He’s a resilient, robust and brave 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 safer outside jail than within. “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 said.

Current Status

The state prosecutor Damien Brunet asked that Sarkozy’s petition for freedom be approved. The court will announce its decision on Monday afternoon.

Incarceration Details

The former president has been held in solitary confinement for his own security, in an individual cell of about 9 sq metres, with his own washing facility and restroom. Two bodyguards are stationed nearby to protect him.

Reports suggested that he had been consuming solely yogurt in prison as he was concerned any meal might have been contaminated. He had been given the opportunity to prepare his own meals but declined the offer.

Support from the Public

His online presence last week posted a video of piles of letters, cards and parcels it claimed had been delivered to his attention, including a collage, a chocolate bar and a volume. “No letter will go unanswered,” his account declared. “The final chapter has not yet been determined.”

Items in Prison

Sarkozy took into prison a biography of Jesus as well as The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas’s novel in which an innocent man is imprisoned but escapes to seek retribution.

Legal Proceedings Particulars

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

Sarkozy maintained his innocence and stated he had not been involved in a criminal conspiracy to seek election funding from Libya.

He was found not guilty of three separate charges of dishonesty, misuse of Libyan public funds and illegal election campaign funding. After the public attorney also appealed against these not guilty verdicts, Sarkozy will be judged again 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 most significant legal case Sarkozy had encountered, he had already been found guilty in two different proceedings and lost France’s highest distinction, the national recognition.

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 corruption and influence peddling. In that case, he was given a one-year jail term but was able to complete it with an ankle monitor worn around the ankle. He wore the tag for a quarter year before being allowed limited freedom.