Nicolas Sarkozy to Pen Jail Diary Detailing Two Dozen Days Incarcerated
The ex-president of France is preparing a memoir in the coming weeks titled Diary of a Prisoner, chronicling the period served behind bars.
This news emerged shortly after Sarkozy was released while he appeals the court ruling for illegal collaboration connected to efforts to secure political financing from the leadership of former Libyan leader.
Life Behind Bars: Inner Thoughts
“Behind bars one sees little, and activities are scarce,” he reflects in one passage, implying the memoir centers around his reflections from solitary confinement rather than a broader observation regarding the strained and struggling French prison system.
“Quiet is absent, which doesn’t exist in that facility, where there is constant sound,” he adds. “The din is alas constant. But, just like the desert, inner life grows stronger in prison.”
Court Appearance: Describing the Ordeal
During his plea for freedom, he was present by video link from a room in prison, depicting prison life as draining. He had told the court: “I want to pay tribute to all the prison staff, showing great humanity, easing this difficult experience tolerable – since it’s deeply troubling.”
“I never imagined that at 70 years of age, I’d find myself behind bars. It’s an ordeal forced upon me. I confess it’s hard, extremely tough. It has an impact on any prisoner due to its intensity.”
Unprecedented Situation
Sarkozy, who served as France’s president between 2007 and 2012, was the first past president from the EU and the initial post-WWII figure in the French Republic to be incarcerated.
Ahead of his incarceration he mentioned he intended to spend the period for authoring a memoir.
Cell Library
It remains unclear whether he had time to read and critique the volumes he brought with him: a life story of Jesus spanning two books together with Dumas’s work The Count of Monte Cristo, where a wrongfully accused individual ends up incarcerated then breaks out to exact retribution.
Life in Confinement
He was placed in solitary confinement due to safety concerns in a cell of about nine sq metres including private facilities at the correctional facility in Paris. Guards were stationed in the next cell.
Reports indicated that he consumed only yoghurts in prison worried that meals provided might have been spat on. Options were available for self-catering but he turned this down, according to reports. It is uncertain whether Sarkozy will write about what he ate in prison.
Lawyer’s Statements
The legal representative, who visited his client every day throughout the jail term, stated during proceedings security would be better released compared to inside. “He received menacing messages, heard shouts during nighttime plus rapid actions in a neighbouring cell as a detainee harmed themselves.”
Charges and Sentence
Sarkozy went to prison in late October after a Paris court gave him a half-decade term for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to acquire campaign funds during his election campaign.
He maintains his innocence and has appealed against the verdict, and a fresh trial set for next spring.
