Nicolas Sarkozy Set to Write Prison Memoir Documenting Two Dozen Days In Custody
The ex-president of France will soon publish a book in the coming weeks named Diary of a Prisoner, chronicling his experience spent behind bars.
The announcement emerged less than two weeks following the former president left prison while he contests the guilty verdict related to criminal conspiracy in a case to secure election campaign funds from the leadership of former Libyan leader.
Prison Experience: Personal Reflections
“In prison one sees little, and nothing to do,” he writes in a preview, implying the memoir is more about his reflections while in seclusion rather than a broader observation of the strained and troubled French prison system.
“Silence escapes me, not present in La Santé, where one hears a lot to hear,” he continues. “The noise unfortunately never stops. But, just like the desert, one’s inner world is strengthened while incarcerated.”
Court Appearance: Describing the Ordeal
During his plea for freedom, he had appeared by video link from a room in prison, describing his time inside as gruelling. He expressed in court: “I must acknowledge to all the prison staff, displaying remarkable compassion, easing this difficult experience manageable – because it is a nightmare.”
“I never imagined at this stage of life, I’d be in prison. It’s a trial I must endure. I confess it’s hard, it’s very hard. It affects one all who experience it as it’s exhausting.”
Unprecedented Situation
The former president, the ex-head of state from 2007 to 2012, became the inaugural ex-leader of an EU country and the first leader since WWII in the French Republic to be incarcerated.
Ahead of his incarceration he had said he planned to utilize the opportunity to compose an account.
Books in Prison
Unconfirmed is if he found the opportunity to go through the texts he brought with him: a life story of Jesus spanning two books and Alexandre Dumas’s novel The Count of Monte Cristo, a plot where a wrongfully accused individual is imprisoned but escapes to seek vengeance.
Life in Confinement
The former leader was held secluded to protect him in a space of about nine sq metres featuring a personal bathroom at La Santé prison located in the capital. Two bodyguards were stationed in the next cell.
Sources mentioned that he had eaten only yoghurts during his stay because he feared meals provided might have been spat on. Options were available to prepare his own meals yet he declined, based on unnamed sources. Unclear remains whether Sarkozy will write about meals during incarceration.
Lawyer’s Statements
His attorney, who saw him regularly each day during the incarceration, stated during proceedings his safety would improve out of prison than inside. “He received death threats, listened to yells during nighttime plus rapid actions next door as a detainee harmed themselves.”
Case Background
His incarceration began on 21 October after a French court gave him a half-decade term on conspiracy charges related to a plan to obtain campaign funds for his 2007 presidential race.
He denies wrongdoing challenging the decision, and a fresh trial planned for next spring.
