Nicolas Sarkozy Portrays Life in Jail as ‘Exhausting’ and ‘a Horrific Experience’
Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has stated that his period of incarceration has been “exhausting” and a “nightmare” as he appeared via video link at a court hearing regarding his application to complete his jail term at home.
Court Appearance from Prison
Sarkozy, wearing a navy blue suit, was visible on screen from prison on Monday, seated at a table with his legal representatives beside him. He told the court: “I want to commend all the prison staff, who are remarkably compassionate, and who have made this nightmare bearable – because it is a nightmare.”
Background of the Legal Situation
Sarkozy was admitted to the correctional facility in Paris on 21 October, after receiving a half-decade imprisonment for criminal conspiracy over a plan to obtain funds for his 2007 presidential election campaign from the government of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
He has challenged the ruling, but judges ruled that because of the “exceptional gravity” of his conviction, he had to go to prison while the appeals process proceeded.
Historical Importance
Sarkozy, who was France’s conservative leader between 2007 and 2012, is the initial ex-leader of an EU country to be imprisoned in prison, and the initial leader since WWII to be incarcerated.
Emotional Testimony
Sarkozy told the court from prison: “I never had any idea or intention to ask Mr Gaddafi for any kind of financing … I will never confess 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 forced upon me. I admit it’s hard, it’s very hard. It has an impact 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 said: “I’m French, I am patriotic, my family is in France. This situation has caused them pain a lot.”
Defense Lawyers Observations
Sarkozy’s lawyer Jean-Michel Darrois, positioned beside him in the remote connection facility, stated: “Being in isolation has been very hard for him.” He said of Sarkozy: “He’s a strong, durable and courageous man and this detention 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 within. “He has faced death threats, has listened to shouts at night and the urgent intervention in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner self-harmed,” he said.
Current Status
The state prosecutor Damien Brunet requested that Sarkozy’s petition for freedom be granted. The court will announce its decision on Monday afternoon.
Prison Conditions
The former president has been placed in isolation for his own security, in an individual cell of about 97 square feet, with his own washing facility and restroom. Two bodyguards are occupying a neighbouring cell to protect him.
Accounts indicated that he had been consuming solely yogurt in prison as he was concerned any food might have been contaminated. He had been given the opportunity to prepare his own meals but declined the offer.
Support from Outside
Sarkozy’s social media account last week posted a video of piles of letters, cards and parcels it said had been sent to him, including a collage, a chocolate bar and a volume. “No correspondence will go unanswered,” his account declared. “The final chapter has not yet been written.”
Personal Belongings
The former leader took into prison a biography of Jesus as well as the classic novel, Alexandre Dumas’s novel in which an innocent man is sentenced to jail but escapes to seek retribution.
Legal Proceedings Particulars
During Sarkozy’s three-month trial, the state attorney had told the court that Sarkozy entered into a “Faustian pact of dishonesty with one of the worst rulers of the last three decades.
The accused maintained his innocence and said he had not been involved in a illegal scheme to obtain campaign finances 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 acquittals, 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 Libyan regime formed the biggest corruption trial Sarkozy had encountered, he had already been convicted in two separate cases and stripped of France’s highest distinction, the Légion d’honneur.
Sarkozy had previously become the first former French head of state forced to wear an monitoring device after being convicted in a separate case of corruption and influence peddling. In that situation, he was given a one-year jail term but was able to serve it with an ankle monitor attached to his leg. He had the device for three months before being allowed limited freedom.