Nicolas Sarkozy Describes Life in Prison as ‘Exhausting’ and ‘a Nightmare’
Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has asserted that his period of incarceration has been “exhausting” and a “horrific experience” as he appeared via video link at a court hearing regarding his request to serve his sentence at home.
Court Appearance from Prison
Sarkozy, wearing a dark blue attire, appeared on camera from prison on Monday, seated at a table with his legal representatives beside him. He told the court: “I want to acknowledge all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, and who have eased this difficult situation – because it is a horrific experience.”
Context of the Legal Situation
The former president was admitted to the correctional facility in Paris on 21 October, after being handed a five-year jail sentence for criminal conspiracy over a plan to obtain funds for his election bid from the government 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.
Historical Significance
The former leader, 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 initial leader since WWII to go behind bars.
Personal Statement
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 never imagined that at 70 years of age, I’d be in prison. It’s an challenge that has been imposed on me. I admit it’s difficult, it’s very hard. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s exhausting.”
He said he would not attempt to enter into contact with any defendants or testifiers in the case. He declared: “I’m French, I am patriotic, my family is in France. This ordeal has caused them pain a lot.”
Defense Lawyers Comments
Sarkozy’s lawyer Jean-Michel Darrois, positioned beside him in the prison video link room, stated: “Being in solitary confinement has been very hard for him.” He commented on Sarkozy: “He’s a resilient, durable and brave man and this detention 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 faced death threats, has heard screaming at night and the urgent intervention in a adjacent room when a prisoner injured themselves,” he stated.
Present Situation
The public attorney Damien Brunet requested that Sarkozy’s request for release be granted. The court will announce its decision on Monday afternoon.
Prison Conditions
Sarkozy has been placed in isolation for his own security, 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.
Accounts suggested that he had been consuming solely yogurt in prison as he feared any meal might have been contaminated. He had been offered the facilities to cook for himself but refused this.
Encouragement from the Public
His online presence last week posted a video of piles of letters, postcards and packages it said had been sent to him, including a collage, a sweet treat and a volume. “No correspondence will go without a response,” his account announced. “The end of the story has not yet been written.”
Items in Prison
The former leader brought with him a life story of Christ as well as the classic novel, the famous work in which an innocent man is sentenced to jail but breaks out to seek retribution.
Court Case Particulars
During Sarkozy’s three-month trial, the public prosecutor had told the court that Sarkozy entered into a “Faustian pact of corruption with one of the worst rulers of the last 30 years.
Sarkozy denied wrongdoing and said he had not been involved in a illegal scheme to obtain campaign finances from Libya.
He was acquitted of three separate charges of corruption, improper handling of state money and unlawful political financing. After the state prosecutor also challenged these acquittals, Sarkozy will be judged again on all the accusations next year, including illegal collaboration.
Prior Legal Issues
Although the allegations of a secret campaign funding pact with the Libyan regime 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 national recognition.
Sarkozy had previously become the initial ex-leader forced to wear an monitoring device after being convicted in a separate case of dishonesty and improper sway. In that situation, he was given a one-year jail term but was able to complete it with an ankle monitor attached to his leg. He wore the tag for a quarter year before being allowed limited freedom.
