Nicolas Sarkozy Characterizes Life in Jail as ‘Gruelling’ and ‘an Ordeal’

The former French president has asserted that his period of incarceration has been “draining” and a “horrific experience” as he was present via remote connection at a court hearing regarding his request to serve his sentence at home.

Court Appearance 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 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 Case

Sarkozy entered the correctional facility in Paris on 21 October, after being handed a five-year jail sentence for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to secure financing for his election bid from the government of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

He has challenged the ruling, but the court ruled that because of the “serious nature” of his guilty verdict, he had to be incarcerated while the appeals process took its course.

Historical Significance

Sarkozy, who was France’s rightwing president 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.

Emotional Testimony

Sarkozy told the court from prison: “I was completely unaware or intention to ask Mr Gaddafi for any kind of financing … I will never confess to something I am innocent of … I could not have foreseen that at 70 years of age, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal that has been forced upon me. I confess it’s hard, it’s very hard. It has an impact on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.”

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

Legal Team Comments

His legal representative Jean-Michel Darrois, sitting next to him in the prison video link room, stated: “Being in isolation has been extremely difficult for him.” He commented on 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 seen him daily, asserted Sarkozy would be more secure out of prison than inside. “He has received threats against his life, has listened to shouts at night and the emergency response in a adjacent room when a prisoner injured themselves,” he stated.

Current Status

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

Incarceration Details

Sarkozy has been placed in isolation for his own safety, in an individual cell of about 9 sq metres, with his own shower and toilet. Two bodyguards are occupying a neighbouring cell to ensure his safety.

Reports indicated that he had been consuming solely yogurt in prison as he feared any meal might have been tampered with. He had been offered the facilities to cook for himself but declined the offer.

Support from Outside

Sarkozy’s social media account last week posted a video of piles of letters, cards and packages it said had been sent to him, including a collection, a sweet treat and a book. “No letter will go without a response,” his account declared. “The final chapter has not yet been written.”

Personal Belongings

Sarkozy took into prison a biography of Jesus as well as The Count of Monte Cristo, the famous work in which an innocent man is imprisoned but escapes to take revenge.

Court Case Details

During Sarkozy’s three-month trial, the state attorney had informed the judges that Sarkozy entered into a “Faustian pact of corruption with one of the worst rulers 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, misuse of Libyan public funds and unlawful political financing. After the public attorney also appealed against these acquittals, Sarkozy will be re-tried on all the charges next year, including illegal collaboration.

Previous Convictions

Although the claims of a secret campaign funding pact with the Libyan regime formed the biggest corruption trial Sarkozy had faced, he had already been convicted in two separate cases and stripped of 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 dishonesty and influence peddling. In that case, he was given a one-year jail term but was able to complete it with an ankle monitor attached to his leg. He had the device for a quarter year before being allowed limited freedom.