A court in Paris will rule on the lawyers' request for release on Monday, and is expected to make a decision later that day.
Sarkozy was convicted in late September of financing his 2007 presidential campaign with financial support from Muammar Gaddafi's Libya, and began serving his five-year prison sentence on October 21.
He has appealed both the verdict and the decision to imprison him pending a new trial, which is believed to be possible this spring.
Sarkozy, who was President of France from 2007 to 2012, has consistently denied the allegations in the Libya case. He has previously been convicted of corruption, among other things.
