The Former French President to Pen Jail Diary Documenting Two Dozen Days Incarcerated
Nicolas Sarkozy will soon publish a memoir next month called Notes from a Cell, chronicling his time endured behind bars.
The announcement came just 11 days after the former president left prison as his appeal proceeds the guilty verdict on charges of criminal conspiracy in a case to obtain political financing linked to the regime of the late Libyan dictator.
Time in Custody: Personal Reflections
“Behind bars one sees little, with little to occupy time,” he notes in an extract, suggesting the memoir is more about his thoughts while in isolation instead of extensive analysis on the strained and crisis-hit jail system in France.
“Quiet is absent, which is missing at the prison, where one hears a lot to hear,” he adds. “The racket is alas constant. Yet, similar to barren lands, one’s inner world is fortified while incarcerated.”
Freedom Plea: Describing the Ordeal
At his release request hearing, he had appeared via screen from a room in prison, characterizing his incarceration as draining. He stated to the judge: “I wish to commend to all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, easing this ordeal tolerable – as it truly is one.”
“I never imagined that at 70 years of age, I would end up incarcerated. It’s an ordeal that has been imposed on me. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, extremely tough. It has an impact every inmate as it’s exhausting.”
Historical Context
He, who led the nation from 2007 to 2012, was the first former head of an EU country and the first postwar leader from France to be incarcerated.
Ahead of his incarceration he declared he would use his time for authoring a memoir.
Reading Material
It is not certain if he found the opportunity to go through the three books he took into prison: a life story of Jesus spanning two books and Alexandre Dumas’s novel the classic tale, where a blameless person is sentenced to jail later flees to exact retribution.
Daily Reality
Sarkozy was placed in solitary confinement to protect him in a room of about nine sq metres including private facilities in the Paris jail in the city. Guards stayed in the next cell.
It was stated that he consumed just yogurt in prison due to concerns meals provided may have been contaminated. He had facilities to cook for himself but refused this, according to reports. Not known is if the memoir includes what he ate in prison.
Defense Viewpoint
His attorney, who saw him regularly each day throughout the jail term, informed the court he would be safer released than inside. “He received menacing messages, heard shouts after dark and emergency responses next door during an inmate’s self-injury.”
Charges and Sentence
His incarceration began last month when the judiciary gave him a half-decade term for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to secure political donations for his 2007 presidential race.
He maintains his innocence challenging the decision, with a new trial set for early next year.
