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Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has declared that his time behind bars has been “draining” and an “ordeal” as he appeared via remote connection at a judicial proceeding regarding his petition to serve his sentence at home.

Court Appearance from Prison

Sarkozy, wearing a dark blue attire, 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 horrific experience.”

Context of the Legal Situation

Sarkozy was admitted to the correctional facility in Paris on 21 October, after receiving a five-year jail sentence for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to secure financing for his 2007 presidential election campaign from the government of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

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

Unprecedented Significance

The former leader, who served as France’s conservative leader 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 told the court from prison: “I was completely unaware or desire to ask Mr Gaddafi for any kind of financing … I will never confess to something I am innocent of … I never imagined that at this stage of life, 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 stated he would not attempt to enter into contact with any accused individuals or testifiers in the case. He declared: “I’m French, I love my country, my family is in France. This situation has caused them pain a lot.”

Defense Lawyers Comments

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

In court, a different legal representative, Christophe Ingrain, who had visited him every day, said Sarkozy would be safer outside jail than inside. “He has received threats against his life, has listened to shouts at night and the urgent intervention in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner injured themselves,” he stated.

Present Situation

The state prosecutor Damien Brunet asked that Sarkozy’s request for release be granted. The court will announce its decision on Monday afternoon.

Incarceration Details

The former president has been placed in isolation for his own security, 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.

Reports indicated that he had been consuming solely yogurt in prison as he was concerned any meal might have been contaminated. He had been given the opportunity to prepare his own meals but declined the offer.

Support from Outside

His online presence last week posted a video of numerous correspondences, postcards and parcels it claimed had been sent to him, including a collection, a chocolate bar and a book. “No letter will go without a response,” his account declared. “The end of the story 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 breaks out to take revenge.

Legal Proceedings Particulars

During the lengthy court case, the public prosecutor had told the court that Sarkozy engaged in a “Faustian pact of dishonesty with one of the most unspeakable dictators of the last three decades.

The accused denied wrongdoing and said 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 corruption, improper handling of state money and unlawful political financing. After the state prosecutor also appealed against these not guilty verdicts, Sarkozy will be judged again on all the accusations next year, including illegal collaboration.

Previous Convictions

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

Sarkozy had previously become the initial ex-leader forced to wear an electronic tag after being found guilty in a separate case of dishonesty and improper sway. In that case, he was given a 12-month sentence but was able to serve it with an electronic tag worn around the ankle. He had the device for three months before being granted conditional release.