The Former French President Set to Write Prison Memoir Documenting His 20 Days In Custody

Nicolas Sarkozy plans a book in the coming weeks named A Prisoner’s Diary, which recounts his time spent behind bars.

This news emerged less than two weeks following Sarkozy gained freedom as he appeals the guilty verdict related to illegal collaboration connected to efforts to obtain presidential race money provided by the government of Muammar Gaddafi.

Time in Custody: Inner Thoughts

“In prison visibility is limited, and nothing to do,” he writes in an extract, implying the book will focus on his thoughts during seclusion as opposed to extensive analysis of the overcrowded and troubled correctional facilities in the country.

“Quiet is absent, not present in La Santé, where noise is endless commotion,” he continues. “The din persists relentlessly. Yet, similar to barren lands, inner life is strengthened behind bars.”

Release Hearing: Describing the Ordeal

While appealing for release, he participated by video link from a room in prison, characterizing his incarceration as exhausting. He expressed in court: “I must acknowledge to all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this ordeal bearable – since it’s deeply troubling.”

“I never imagined that in my seventies, I’d find myself behind bars. It’s a hardship forced upon me. I confess it’s hard, deeply straining. It affects one all who experience it due to its intensity.”

First of Its Kind

He, the ex-head of state for a five-year term, became the inaugural past president in the European Union and the initial post-WWII figure in the French Republic to serve time in prison.

Ahead of his incarceration he mentioned he intended to spend the period to compose an account.

Books in Prison

Unconfirmed is if he found the opportunity to go through the volumes he brought with him: a two-volume biography of Jesus and Alexandre Dumas’s novel the classic tale, a plot where an innocent man is sentenced to jail later flees to exact retribution.

Life in Confinement

The former leader was held secluded due to safety concerns in a room roughly 100 square feet including private facilities at the correctional facility in Paris. Guards stayed in a neighbouring cell.

It was stated his diet consisted only yoghurts during his stay worried that meals provided could have been tampered with. Options were available to prepare his own meals but he turned this down, as per accounts. Unclear remains whether Sarkozy will write about his dietary choices.

Lawyer’s Statements

His attorney, who visited his client each day while he was in prison, told the release hearing he would be safer out of prison compared to inside. “He has faced death threats, listened to yells during nighttime and emergency responses in a neighbouring cell as a detainee harmed themselves.”

Charges and Sentence

Sarkozy went to prison last month after the judiciary imposed five years in prison for illegal collaboration over a scheme to obtain political donations for his 2007 presidential race.

He denies wrongdoing and is contesting the ruling, and another court case planned for next spring.