The Former French President to Pen Jail Diary Detailing Two Dozen Days Incarcerated
Nicolas Sarkozy is preparing a personal account next month titled Diary of a Prisoner, which recounts his experience served behind bars.
The revelation emerged shortly following the former president gained freedom as he contests the guilty verdict on charges of illegal collaboration connected to efforts to acquire presidential race money from the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi.
Prison Experience: Personal Reflections
“Behind bars there is nothing to see, with little to occupy time,” he writes in a preview, suggesting the book is more about his thoughts during seclusion as opposed to a broader observation of the strained and struggling correctional facilities in the country.
“I forget silence, which doesn’t exist in that facility, where there is constant sound,” he adds. “The racket persists relentlessly. However, akin to empty spaces, inner life is fortified in prison.”
Freedom Plea: Recounting the Hardship
At his release request hearing, he was present via screen from a room in prison, characterizing his incarceration as exhausting. He expressed in court: “I wish to commend those working in the jail, displaying remarkable compassion, and who have made this difficult experience manageable – because it is a nightmare.”
“I never imagined at this stage of life, I’d find myself behind bars. It’s an ordeal I must endure. I confess it’s hard, extremely tough. It has an impact on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.”
First of Its Kind
He, who led the nation for a five-year term, set a precedent as past president from the EU and the first postwar leader in the French Republic to be incarcerated.
Before entering jail he declared he would use his time to write a book.
Reading Material
It is not certain whether he had time to review and analyze the three books he took into prison: a biography of Jesus in two parts plus the novel by Dumas the famous story, a plot where an innocent man is imprisoned but escapes to seek vengeance.
Prison Conditions
Sarkozy remained in isolation for his own security in a room of about nine sq metres featuring a personal bathroom at the correctional facility in Paris. Guards occupied the next cell.
It was stated that he had eaten just yogurt in prison due to concerns prison cuisine could have been tampered with. He had facilities to prepare his own meals but he turned this down, according to reports. Unclear remains if the memoir includes his dietary choices.
Defense Viewpoint
His attorney, who visited his client daily during the incarceration, stated during proceedings security would be better out of prison rather than in custody. “There were death threats, has heard screaming after dark plus rapid actions in an adjacent room when a prisoner self-harmed.”
Case Background
He entered custody on 21 October following a French court sentenced him to five years in prison for illegal collaboration over a scheme to secure political donations for his presidential bid.
He denies wrongdoing challenging the decision, and another court case is scheduled for next spring.
