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Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has declared that his period of incarceration has been “gruelling” and a “nightmare” as he appeared via video link at a judicial proceeding regarding his petition to serve his sentence at home.

Legal Proceeding from Behind Bars

Sarkozy, dressed in a dark blue attire, appeared on camera from prison on Monday, positioned at a desk with his lawyers beside him. He told the court: “I want to commend all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, and who have eased this difficult situation – because it is a nightmare.”

Background of the Case

The former president was admitted to the correctional facility in Paris on 21 October, after receiving a five-year jail sentence for illegal collaboration over a scheme to obtain funds for his 2007 presidential election campaign 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 conviction, he had to go to prison while the legal challenge proceeded.

Historical Importance

The former leader, who was France’s rightwing president between 2007 and 2012, is the first former head of an EU country to serve time in prison, and the initial leader since WWII to go behind bars.

Personal Statement

The former president 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 could not have foreseen 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 difficult, it’s extremely challenging. It has an impact on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.”

He said he would not try to communicate with any accused individuals or testifiers in the case. He said: “I’m French, I am patriotic, my family is in France. This ordeal has caused them pain a lot.”

Legal Team Observations

His legal representative Jean-Michel Darrois, positioned beside him in the prison video link room, said: “Being in solitary confinement has been extremely difficult for him.” He said of Sarkozy: “He’s a resilient, robust and courageous man and this imprisonment has been very painful for him.”

In court, another of Sarkozy’s lawyers, Christophe Ingrain, who had visited him every day, asserted Sarkozy would be safer out of prison than within. “He has faced death threats, has listened to shouts at night and the emergency response 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 granted. The court will reveal its ruling on Monday afternoon.

Prison Conditions

The former president has been placed in isolation for his own safety, in an private room of about 97 square feet, with his own washing facility and toilet. Two bodyguards are occupying a neighbouring cell to ensure his safety.

Accounts suggested that he had been eating only yoghurt in prison as he was concerned any food might have been contaminated. He had been offered the facilities to prepare his own meals but refused this.

Encouragement from the Public

Sarkozy’s social media account last week shared a video of numerous correspondences, postcards and packages it claimed had been sent to him, including a collection, 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

The former leader 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 escapes to seek retribution.

Court Case Particulars

During Sarkozy’s three-month trial, the public prosecutor had informed the judges that Sarkozy entered into a “corrupt agreement” of dishonesty with one of the worst rulers of the last 30 years.

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

He was acquitted of three distinct accusations of corruption, misuse of Libyan public funds and illegal election campaign funding. After the state prosecutor also challenged these acquittals, Sarkozy will be judged again on all the charges next year, including illegal collaboration.

Previous Convictions

Although the claims of a clandestine financial agreement 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.

Sarkozy had previously become the first former French head of state forced to wear an electronic tag after being found guilty in a separate case of corruption and improper sway. In that situation, he was given a 12-month sentence 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.