🔗 Share this article

Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has declared that his period of incarceration has been “draining” and an “ordeal” as he appeared via video link at a judicial proceeding regarding his request to complete his jail term at home.

Court Appearance from Prison

Sarkozy, wearing a navy blue suit, appeared on camera from prison on Monday, positioned at a desk 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 horrific experience.”

Context of the Case

Sarkozy entered La Santé prison in Paris on 21 October, after receiving a five-year jail sentence for illegal collaboration over a scheme to secure financing for his election bid from the government of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

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

Historical Significance

The former leader, who served as France’s conservative leader between 2007 and 2012, is the initial ex-leader of an EU country to be imprisoned in prison, and the first French postwar leader to go behind bars.

Personal Statement

Sarkozy stated to the judges 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 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 has an impact 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 declared: “I’m French, I am patriotic, my family is in France. This situation has made them suffer a lot.”

Legal Team Comments

His legal representative Jean-Michel Darrois, positioned beside him in the remote connection facility, said: “Being in solitary confinement has been extremely difficult for him.” He commented on Sarkozy: “He’s a resilient, durable and brave man and this detention has caused him great suffering.”

In court, another of Sarkozy’s lawyers, Christophe Ingrain, who had visited him every day, said Sarkozy would be safer outside jail 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 stated.

Current Status

The public attorney Damien Brunet asked that Sarkozy’s petition for freedom be approved. The court will reveal its ruling on Monday afternoon.

Incarceration Details

Sarkozy has been held in solitary confinement for his own safety, in an individual cell of about 97 square feet, with his own shower and restroom. Two bodyguards are stationed nearby to ensure his safety.

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

Support from the Public

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

Items in Prison

Sarkozy took into prison a life story of Christ 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.

Legal Proceedings Particulars

During the lengthy court case, the public prosecutor had informed the judges that Sarkozy engaged in a “corrupt agreement” of corruption with one of the most unspeakable dictators of the last 30 years.

The accused maintained his innocence and stated he had not been part of a illegal scheme to obtain campaign finances from Libya.

He was found not guilty of three distinct accusations of dishonesty, improper handling of state money and unlawful political financing. After the state prosecutor also appealed against these not guilty verdicts, Sarkozy will be re-tried on all the accusations next year, including criminal conspiracy.

Previous Convictions

Although the allegations of a secret campaign funding pact with the Libyan regime formed the most significant legal case Sarkozy had faced, he had already been found guilty in two separate cases and stripped of France’s top honor, the national recognition.

Sarkozy had previously become the first former French head of state forced to wear an electronic tag after being convicted in a separate case of corruption and improper sway. In that case, he was given a one-year jail term but was able to serve it with an ankle monitor attached to his leg. He wore the tag for a quarter year before being granted conditional release.