🔗 Share this article

Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has stated that his period of incarceration has been “draining” and a “nightmare” as he was present via remote connection at a judicial proceeding regarding his request to complete his jail term at home.

Court Appearance from Behind Bars

Sarkozy, wearing a dark blue attire, appeared on camera from jail on Monday, seated at a table with his lawyers beside him. He informed the judges: “I want to acknowledge all the correctional officers, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this nightmare bearable – because it is a horrific experience.”

Background of the Legal Situation

The former president entered La Santé prison in Paris on 21 October, after receiving a half-decade imprisonment for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to obtain funds 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 proceeded.

Unprecedented Importance

The former leader, who served as 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.

Personal Statement

The former president told the court from prison: “I was completely unaware or desire to ask Mr Gaddafi for any kind of financing … I will not admit 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 imposed on me. I confess it’s difficult, it’s very hard. 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 testifiers 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

Sarkozy’s lawyer Jean-Michel Darrois, positioned beside him in the remote connection facility, stated: “Being in isolation has been extremely difficult for him.” He commented on Sarkozy: “He’s a resilient, robust and brave man and this imprisonment has caused him great suffering.”

In court, another of Sarkozy’s lawyers, Christophe Ingrain, who had visited him every day, asserted Sarkozy would be safer out of prison than inside. “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.

Present Situation

The public attorney Damien Brunet asked that Sarkozy’s petition for freedom be granted. The court will announce its decision on Monday afternoon.

Prison Conditions

Sarkozy has been held in solitary confinement for his own safety, in an private room of about 97 square feet, with his own washing facility and restroom. Security personnel are stationed nearby to ensure his safety.

Accounts suggested that he had been consuming solely yogurt in prison as he was concerned any meal might have been contaminated. He had been offered the facilities to cook for himself but refused this.

Encouragement from the Public

His online presence last week posted a recording of piles of letters, cards and packages it claimed had been delivered to his attention, including a collage, a chocolate bar and a volume. “No correspondence will go without a response,” his account declared. “The final chapter has not yet been written.”

Personal Belongings

The former leader brought with him a biography of Jesus as well as The Count of Monte Cristo, the famous work in which an innocent man is sentenced to jail but escapes to seek retribution.

Court Case 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 most unspeakable dictators of the last three decades.

The accused denied wrongdoing and stated he had not been involved in a illegal scheme to seek election funding from Libya.

He was found not guilty of three distinct accusations of dishonesty, improper handling of state money and illegal election campaign funding. After the public attorney also challenged these acquittals, Sarkozy will be re-tried on all the accusations next year, including criminal conspiracy.

Prior Legal Issues

Although the allegations of a secret campaign funding pact with the North African government formed the biggest corruption trial Sarkozy had encountered, he had already been convicted in two different proceedings 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 found guilty in a different matter of corruption and influence peddling. In that case, he was given a one-year jail term but was able to complete it with an electronic tag attached to his leg. He wore the tag for a quarter year before being allowed limited freedom.