Nicolas Sarkozy Set to Write Prison Memoir Documenting Three Weeks Incarcerated
Nicolas Sarkozy plans a memoir this autumn named A Prisoner’s Diary, detailing the period endured behind bars.
The revelation emerged shortly after the ex-leader left prison while he contests the court ruling for criminal conspiracy regarding a scheme to obtain presidential race money linked to the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi.
Time in Custody: Personal Reflections
“In prison visibility is limited, with little to occupy time,” he writes in a preview, suggesting the memoir will focus on his reflections from isolation instead of a broader observation of the strained and struggling jail system in France.
“Silence escapes me, which doesn’t exist at the prison, where one hears endless commotion,” he continues. “The noise persists relentlessly. Yet, similar to barren lands, one’s inner world is fortified in prison.”
Release Hearing: Recounting the Hardship
While appealing for release, the former leader had appeared by video link from a room in prison, describing his time inside as draining. He stated to the judge: “I wish to commend to all the prison staff, displaying remarkable compassion, and who have made this ordeal bearable – because it is a nightmare.”
“I didn’t expect at this stage of life, I’d find myself behind bars. It’s a hardship forced upon me. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, deeply straining. It leaves a mark on any prisoner as it’s exhausting.”
First of Its Kind
Sarkozy, the ex-head of state for a five-year term, set a precedent as ex-leader of an EU country and the initial post-WWII figure from France to experience jail.
Ahead of his incarceration he had said he intended to spend the period for authoring a memoir.
Books in Prison
Unconfirmed is whether he had time to read and critique the volumes he took into prison: a two-volume biography of Jesus and Alexandre Dumas’s novel The Count of Monte Cristo, where a blameless person is imprisoned but escapes to seek vengeance.
Daily Reality
Sarkozy was placed in isolation due to safety concerns in a cell approximately nine square meters with his own shower and toilet at La Santé prison located in the capital. Guards were stationed in the next cell.
Reports indicated his diet consisted just yogurt during his stay worried that any food might have been spat on. He had facilities to cook for himself but he turned this down, as per accounts. Not known is if the memoir includes what he ate in prison.
Defense Viewpoint
His attorney, Christophe Ingrain every day while he was in prison, informed the court his safety would improve outside jail compared to inside. “He has faced threats against his life, has heard screaming at night and the urgent intervention in a neighbouring cell during an inmate’s self-injury.”
Legal Proceedings
Sarkozy went to prison in late October following a French court sentenced him to five years in prison for illegal collaboration related to a plan to obtain political donations for his presidential bid.
He denies wrongdoing and is contesting the ruling, and a fresh trial planned for the coming spring.
