The former French president Characterizes Life in Prison as ‘Draining’ and ‘a Nightmare’

Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has stated that his stay in prison has been “exhausting” and a “horrific experience” as he was present via video link at a judicial proceeding regarding his application to serve his sentence at home.

Legal Proceeding from Prison

The former leader, dressed in a navy blue suit, appeared on camera from jail on Monday, seated at a table with his legal representatives beside him. He told the court: “I want to acknowledge 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 was admitted to the correctional facility in Paris on 21 October, after being handed a five-year jail sentence for illegal collaboration over a scheme to obtain funds for his election bid from the government of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

He has challenged the verdict, but judges ruled that because of the “exceptional gravity” of his conviction, he had to go to prison 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

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 didn’t do … I could not have foreseen that at 70 years of age, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal that has been imposed on me. I admit it’s difficult, it’s extremely challenging. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s exhausting.”

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

Legal Team Observations

Sarkozy’s lawyer Jean-Michel Darrois, sitting next to him in the prison video link room, said: “Being in isolation has been very hard for him.” He commented on Sarkozy: “He’s a strong, robust and brave man and this imprisonment has caused him great suffering.”

In court, another of Sarkozy’s lawyers, Christophe Ingrain, who had seen him daily, asserted Sarkozy would be safer outside jail than inside. “He has received threats against his life, has heard screaming at night and the urgent intervention in a adjacent room when a prisoner injured themselves,” he said.

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

The former president has been placed in isolation for his own security, in an private room of about 9 sq metres, with his own shower and toilet. Security personnel are occupying a neighbouring cell to ensure his safety.

Reports suggested that he had been eating only yoghurt in prison as he was concerned any food might have been contaminated. He had been given the opportunity to cook for himself but refused this.

Support from Outside

His online presence last week shared a video of piles of letters, cards and packages it claimed had been sent to him, including a collage, a chocolate bar and a volume. “No correspondence will go unanswered,” 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, Alexandre Dumas’s novel in which an innocent man is imprisoned but escapes to take revenge.

Court Case Particulars

During Sarkozy’s three-month trial, the state attorney had told the court that Sarkozy entered into a “Faustian pact of corruption with one of the most unspeakable dictators of the last three decades.

The accused maintained his innocence and said he had not been involved in a illegal scheme to seek election funding from Libya.

He was acquitted of three distinct accusations of dishonesty, improper handling of state money and illegal election campaign funding. After the public attorney also appealed against these not guilty verdicts, Sarkozy will be re-tried on all the charges 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 Légion d’honneur.

Sarkozy had previously become the initial ex-leader forced to wear an monitoring device after being convicted in a different matter of corruption and influence peddling. In that situation, he was given a one-year jail term but was able to serve it with an electronic tag worn around the ankle. He wore the tag for a quarter year before being allowed limited freedom.