Nicolas Sarkozy to Pen Prison Memoir Chronicling His 20 Days In Custody
The ex-president of France plans a memoir in the coming weeks called Diary of a Prisoner, detailing his time endured in jail.
The announcement came shortly after the former president gained freedom as his appeal proceeds his conviction on charges of illegal collaboration connected to efforts to acquire political financing from the regime of the late Libyan dictator.
Life Behind Bars: Inner Thoughts
“Behind bars there is nothing to see, and activities are scarce,” he writes in a preview, indicating the memoir is more about his reflections while in isolation as opposed to a broader observation on the packed and crisis-hit jail system in France.
“I forget silence, not present in that facility, where there is constant sound,” he continues. “The din is alas constant. But, just like the desert, personal reflection is strengthened while incarcerated.”
Freedom Plea: Recounting the Hardship
While appealing for release, he participated via screen from his cell, characterizing his incarceration as exhausting. He expressed in court: “I wish to commend the correctional officers, showing great humanity, and who helped make this ordeal manageable – since it’s deeply troubling.”
“I never imagined that in my seventies, I would end up incarcerated. It’s a trial forced upon me. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, deeply straining. It has an impact every inmate because it’s gruelling.”
Historical Context
Sarkozy, the ex-head of state for a five-year term, was the first former head of an EU country and the first postwar leader in the French Republic to serve time in prison.
Prior to imprisonment he declared he intended to spend the period to compose an account.
Books in Prison
It remains unclear whether he had time to read and critique the texts he brought with him: a biography of Jesus in two parts and Alexandre Dumas’s novel the famous story, in which a wrongfully accused individual is sentenced to jail but escapes to exact retribution.
Daily Reality
Sarkozy remained in isolation for his own security in a space of about nine sq metres including private facilities at the correctional facility located in the capital. Guards stayed in the next cell.
Reports indicated his diet consisted just yogurt while inside due to concerns any food may have been contaminated. Although he had access to prepare his own meals but refused this, based on unnamed sources. Not known is if he will detail what he ate in prison.
Defense Viewpoint
His attorney, who saw him regularly daily during the incarceration, stated during proceedings he would be safer released than inside. “He has faced threats against his life, listened to yells at night and the urgent intervention next door when a prisoner self-harmed.”
Case Background
His incarceration began last month when a French court imposed a half-decade term for illegal collaboration in connection with efforts to secure election financing during his election campaign.
He disputes the charges and has appealed against the verdict, and another court case is scheduled for early next year.
