The Former French President Set to Write Prison Memoir Documenting His 20 Days Incarcerated
Nicolas Sarkozy plans a memoir in the coming weeks titled A Prisoner’s Diary, detailing his experience spent in custody.
This news emerged just 11 days after the ex-leader left prison while he appeals the guilty verdict for unlawful coordination regarding a scheme to acquire election campaign funds linked to the regime of the late Libyan dictator.
Life Behind Bars: Personal Reflections
“In prison visibility is limited, and activities are scarce,” he writes in an extract, indicating the memoir centers around his reflections from solitary confinement instead of extensive analysis of the strained and struggling correctional facilities in the country.
“I forget silence, which doesn’t exist at the prison, where there is endless commotion,” he adds. “The racket persists relentlessly. But, just like the desert, personal reflection is strengthened behind bars.”
Release Hearing: Recounting the Hardship
During his plea for freedom, the former leader participated by video link from his cell, characterizing his incarceration as draining. He had told the court: “I must acknowledge to all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, easing this nightmare bearable – since it’s deeply troubling.”
“I didn’t expect that at 70 years of age, I would end up incarcerated. It’s a trial forced upon me. I confess it’s hard, extremely tough. It leaves a mark on any prisoner due to its intensity.”
Unprecedented Situation
He, who served as France’s president between 2007 and 2012, set a precedent as former head of an EU country and the first leader since WWII of France to be incarcerated.
Before entering jail he declared he intended to spend the period to compose an account.
Books in Prison
It remains unclear whether he had time to go through the three books he took into prison: a life story of Jesus spanning two books together with Dumas’s work The Count of Monte Cristo, where a wrongfully accused individual is sentenced to jail then breaks out to exact retribution.
Daily Reality
The former leader was held secluded to protect him in a room of about nine sq metres with his own shower and toilet in the Paris jail located in the capital. Security personnel were stationed in an adjacent room.
Reports indicated that he consumed solely dairy snacks while inside worried that prison cuisine could have been tampered with. Although he had access to prepare his own meals but refused this, according to reports. Not known is whether Sarkozy will write about meals during incarceration.
Defense Viewpoint
Sarkozy’s lawyer, Christophe Ingrain each day throughout the jail term, informed the court he would be safer outside jail than inside. “He has faced threats against his life, has heard screaming at night and the urgent intervention in a neighbouring cell during an inmate’s self-injury.”
Charges and Sentence
His incarceration began last month following the judiciary imposed a five-year sentence for illegal collaboration over a scheme to secure election financing for his presidential bid.
He maintains his innocence and has appealed against the verdict, with a new trial planned for the coming spring.