The Former French President Set to Write Prison Memoir Chronicling Three Weeks In Custody

Nicolas Sarkozy is preparing a memoir this autumn titled Diary of a Prisoner, which recounts the period endured in jail.

This news emerged less than two weeks following the former president was released while his appeal proceeds the court ruling related to illegal collaboration in a case to obtain election campaign funds from the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi.

Prison Experience: Solitary Musings

“In prison there is nothing to see, and nothing to do,” he notes in one passage, implying the memoir centers around his musings while in solitary confinement as opposed to wider commentary on the packed and crisis-hit jail system in France.

“Quiet is absent, which is missing in La Santé, where there is constant sound,” he states. “The racket unfortunately never stops. However, akin to empty spaces, personal reflection is strengthened behind bars.”

Freedom Plea: Sharing the Struggle

At his release request hearing, the former leader had appeared by video link from a room in prison, characterizing his incarceration as draining. He had told the court: “I wish to commend those working in the jail, displaying remarkable compassion, and who helped make this difficult experience tolerable – as it truly is one.”

“It never crossed my mind that at 70 years of age, I’d find myself behind bars. It’s a hardship forced upon me. I admit it’s difficult, extremely tough. It affects one all who experience it due to its intensity.”

Historical Context

Sarkozy, who served as France’s president from 2007 to 2012, was the first past president from the EU and the first leader since WWII in the French Republic to serve time in prison.

Before entering jail he declared he planned to utilize the opportunity for authoring a memoir.

Reading Material

It is not certain did he manage to review and analyze the three books he took into prison: a biography of Jesus in two parts and Alexandre Dumas’s novel the famous story, where an innocent man is sentenced to jail but escapes to seek vengeance.

Daily Reality

Sarkozy was placed in solitary confinement to protect him in a room approximately nine square meters including private facilities at La Santé prison in Paris. Guards occupied a neighbouring cell.

Reports indicated that he had eaten only yoghurts in prison worried that prison cuisine might have been spat on. Options were available to prepare his own meals yet he declined, according to reports. Not known is if the memoir includes his dietary choices.

Legal Perspective

The legal representative, who saw him regularly every day during the incarceration, told the release hearing security would be better released compared to inside. “There were threats against his life, heard shouts during nighttime plus rapid actions next door when a prisoner self-harmed.”

Case Background

His incarceration began in late October after the judiciary imposed five years in prison on conspiracy charges related to a plan to obtain political donations during his election campaign.

He denies wrongdoing and has appealed against the verdict, with a new trial set for the coming spring.