Nicolas Sarkozy Set to Write Prison Memoir Chronicling Two Dozen Days Incarcerated
Nicolas Sarkozy will soon publish a book next month titled A Prisoner’s Diary, chronicling his time endured in custody.
The announcement came just 11 days following the former president was released while he contests the guilty verdict on charges of illegal collaboration connected to efforts to acquire election campaign funds provided by the government of former Libyan leader.
Time in Custody: Inner Thoughts
“In prison visibility is limited, with little to occupy time,” he reflects in a preview, suggesting the book will focus on his thoughts while in solitary confinement as opposed to wider commentary regarding the packed and struggling French prison system.
“I forget silence, which is missing in that facility, where there is constant sound,” he continues. “The racket unfortunately never stops. Yet, similar to barren lands, personal reflection grows stronger while incarcerated.”
Freedom Plea: Recounting the Hardship
While appealing for release, the former leader was present by video link from inside the facility, describing his time inside as exhausting. He expressed in court: “I wish to commend the correctional officers, showing great humanity, and who have made this ordeal manageable – because it is a nightmare.”
“It never crossed my mind that at 70 years of age, I’d be in prison. It’s a trial I must endure. I confess it’s hard, it’s very hard. It has an impact all who experience it as it’s exhausting.”
Unprecedented Situation
The former president, who served as France’s president for a five-year term, was the first ex-leader from the EU and the first leader since WWII from France to serve time in prison.
Ahead of his incarceration he declared he planned to utilize the opportunity for authoring a memoir.
Books in Prison
It remains unclear whether he had time to read and critique the three books he brought with him: a biography of Jesus in two parts and Alexandre Dumas’s novel The Count of Monte Cristo, where a wrongfully accused individual is sentenced to jail but escapes to exact retribution.
Daily Reality
He was placed secluded for his own security in a room roughly 100 square feet including private facilities at the correctional facility in the city. Two bodyguards occupied the next cell.
Reports indicated that he consumed solely dairy snacks while inside because he feared any food might have been spat on. Options were available for self-catering but refused this, based on unnamed sources. Not known is if he will detail his dietary choices.
Defense Viewpoint
His attorney, who saw him regularly daily while he was in prison, stated during proceedings he would be safer outside jail compared to inside. “He has faced death threats, has heard screaming during nighttime and the urgent intervention next door when a prisoner self-harmed.”
Charges and Sentence
His incarceration began on 21 October after the judiciary gave him a half-decade term for criminal conspiracy related to a plan to acquire campaign funds for his 2007 presidential race.
He maintains his innocence challenging the decision, and another court case planned for next spring.
