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Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has stated that his time behind bars has been “gruelling” and a “nightmare” as he appeared via remote connection at a judicial proceeding regarding his request to complete his jail term at home.

Court Appearance from Behind Bars

The former leader, dressed in a navy blue suit, was visible on screen from jail on Monday, positioned at a desk with his legal representatives 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 nightmare.”

Context of the Legal Situation

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

He has challenged the ruling, but judges ruled that because of the “serious nature” of his guilty verdict, he had to go to prison while the legal challenge proceeded.

Unprecedented Significance

Sarkozy, who was France’s conservative leader between 2007 and 2012, is the initial ex-leader of an EU country to serve time in prison, and the initial leader since WWII to be incarcerated.

Emotional Testimony

Sarkozy stated to the judges from prison: “I never had any idea or intention to ask Mr Gaddafi for any kind of financing … I will not admit to something I am innocent of … I could not have foreseen that at this stage of life, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal that has been forced upon me. I confess it’s difficult, it’s very hard. It has an impact on any prisoner because it’s exhausting.”

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

Legal Team Observations

Sarkozy’s lawyer Jean-Michel Darrois, positioned beside 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, durable and brave man and this imprisonment has been very painful for him.”

In court, a different legal representative, 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 heard screaming at night and the emergency response in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner self-harmed,” he said.

Present Situation

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

Incarceration Details

The former president has been placed in isolation for his own safety, in an individual cell of about 97 square feet, with his own shower and restroom. Two bodyguards are occupying a neighbouring cell to ensure his safety.

Accounts indicated that he had been eating only yoghurt 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 Outside

Sarkozy’s social media account last week shared a video of piles of letters, cards and packages it claimed had been sent to him, including a collection, a chocolate bar and a volume. “No letter will go unanswered,” his account announced. “The final chapter has not yet been written.”

Items in Prison

The former leader took into prison a biography of Jesus as well as The Count of Monte Cristo, the famous work in which an wrongly accused individual is sentenced to jail but escapes to seek retribution.

Legal Proceedings Details

During Sarkozy’s three-month trial, the public prosecutor had told the court that Sarkozy engaged in a “corrupt agreement” of dishonesty with one of the worst rulers 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 acquitted of three separate charges of dishonesty, improper handling of state money and illegal election campaign funding. After the state prosecutor also appealed against these not guilty verdicts, Sarkozy will be re-tried on all the accusations next year, including illegal collaboration.

Previous Convictions

Although the allegations of a clandestine financial agreement with the North African government formed the biggest corruption trial Sarkozy had encountered, he had already been found guilty in two different proceedings and stripped of France’s highest distinction, the Légion d’honneur.

Sarkozy had previously become the initial ex-leader forced to wear an electronic tag after being found guilty in a different matter of dishonesty and improper sway. In that case, he was given a one-year jail term but was able to complete it with an electronic tag worn around the ankle. He had the device for a quarter year before being allowed limited freedom.