The Former French President Set to Write Prison Memoir Detailing Three Weeks Incarcerated
The ex-president of France plans a personal account next month called A Prisoner’s Diary, detailing the period endured in custody.
The announcement was made less than two weeks following Sarkozy left prison as he contests his conviction on charges of criminal conspiracy connected to efforts to secure presidential race money linked to the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi.
Prison Experience: Personal Reflections
“In prison there is nothing to see, and nothing to do,” he writes in an extract, indicating the book is more about his reflections during isolation rather than extensive analysis on the overcrowded and struggling French prison system.
“I forget silence, not present in La Santé, where there is constant sound,” he states. “The din unfortunately never stops. However, akin to empty spaces, personal reflection grows stronger while incarcerated.”
Freedom Plea: Recounting the Hardship
During his plea for freedom, Sarkozy participated remotely from inside the facility, depicting prison life as gruelling. He had told the court: “I wish to commend those working in the jail, showing great humanity, easing this ordeal bearable – since it’s deeply troubling.”
“I never imagined that at 70 years of age, I’d find myself behind bars. It’s an ordeal that has been imposed on me. I admit it’s difficult, it’s very hard. It affects one all who experience it as it’s exhausting.”
First of Its Kind
The former president, who served as France’s president between 2007 and 2012, was the first past president in the European Union and the first postwar leader in the French Republic to experience jail.
Prior to imprisonment he mentioned he intended to spend the period to write a book.
Books in Prison
Unconfirmed is if he found the opportunity to go through the three books he took into prison: a life story of Jesus spanning two books plus the novel by Dumas The Count of Monte Cristo, where a wrongfully accused individual ends up incarcerated then breaks out to take revenge.
Daily Reality
He was placed in solitary confinement for his own security in a space roughly 100 square feet with his own shower and toilet in the Paris jail located in the capital. Two bodyguards stayed in an adjacent room.
Reports indicated his diet consisted only yoghurts in prison due to concerns meals provided may have been contaminated. Options were available to prepare his own meals but he turned this down, according to reports. Unclear remains whether Sarkozy will write about what he ate in prison.
Defense Viewpoint
Sarkozy’s lawyer, who saw him regularly daily throughout the jail term, stated during proceedings his safety would improve out of prison rather than in custody. “There were threats against his life, has heard screaming after dark and the urgent intervention in an adjacent room when a prisoner self-harmed.”
Case Background
His incarceration began last month when a Paris court sentenced him to five years in prison for illegal collaboration related to a plan to secure political donations for his presidential bid.
He disputes the charges and has appealed against the verdict, and a fresh trial is scheduled for next spring.