Nicolas Sarkozy Set to Write Prison Memoir Detailing Three Weeks In Custody
Nicolas Sarkozy will soon publish a personal account in the coming weeks called A Prisoner’s Diary, detailing the period endured behind bars.
This news emerged less than two weeks after Sarkozy was released while his appeal proceeds the court ruling on charges of criminal conspiracy in a case to obtain election campaign funds provided by the government of the late Libyan dictator.
Prison Experience: Solitary Musings
“Inside jail there is nothing to see, and nothing to do,” he notes in an extract, indicating the book is more about his reflections from seclusion as opposed to extensive analysis of the overcrowded and struggling correctional facilities in the country.
“I forget silence, which is missing in La Santé, where there is constant sound,” he continues. “The racket is alas constant. However, akin to empty spaces, one’s inner world is strengthened while incarcerated.”
Court Appearance: Recounting the Hardship
During his plea for freedom, he participated remotely from inside the facility, describing his time inside as exhausting. He expressed in court: “I want to pay tribute the correctional officers, showing great humanity, easing this ordeal manageable – as it truly is one.”
“It never crossed my mind that in my seventies, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal I must endure. I admit it’s difficult, it’s very hard. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.”
Unprecedented Situation
He, the ex-head of state from 2007 to 2012, became the inaugural past president from the EU and the initial post-WWII figure of France to serve time in prison.
Before entering jail he declared he would use his time to write a book.
Reading Material
It is not certain whether he had time to go through the volumes he brought with him: a biography of Jesus in two parts together with Dumas’s work the classic tale, a plot where a wrongfully accused individual is imprisoned but escapes to take revenge.
Prison Conditions
He was placed in isolation due to safety concerns in a room of about nine sq metres including private facilities in the Paris jail in the city. Security personnel were stationed in a neighbouring cell.
Reports indicated that he consumed solely dairy snacks during his stay worried that any food could have been tampered with. Options were available to prepare his own meals but he turned this down, according to reports. Unclear remains if the memoir includes his dietary choices.
Legal Perspective
His attorney, Christophe Ingrain daily throughout the jail term, told the release hearing his safety would improve released than inside. “He received death threats, heard shouts during nighttime plus rapid actions in a neighbouring cell during an inmate’s self-injury.”
Case Background
Sarkozy went to prison on 21 October after the judiciary gave him a five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to acquire election financing for his presidential bid.
He denies wrongdoing challenging the decision, and another court case set for next spring.