The Former French President to Pen Prison Memoir Detailing Three Weeks Behind Bars
Nicolas Sarkozy plans a memoir next month called A Prisoner’s Diary, chronicling the period endured in custody.
The announcement came shortly following Sarkozy was released as he appeals his conviction related to unlawful coordination regarding a scheme to obtain election campaign funds from the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.
Life Behind Bars: Solitary Musings
“Behind bars there is nothing to see, and nothing to do,” he reflects in a preview, suggesting the account centers around his thoughts from isolation instead of extensive analysis regarding the overcrowded and crisis-hit jail system in France.
“Quiet is absent, which doesn’t exist at the prison, where there is constant sound,” he continues. “The din unfortunately never stops. However, akin to empty spaces, personal reflection is strengthened behind bars.”
Court Appearance: Describing the Ordeal
While appealing for release, the former leader participated by video link from inside the facility, describing his time inside as gruelling. He expressed in court: “I wish to commend to all the prison staff, showing great humanity, and who helped make this difficult experience tolerable – because it is a nightmare.”
“It never crossed my mind at this stage of life, I’d find myself behind bars. It’s a trial forced upon me. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, deeply straining. It leaves a mark every inmate because it’s gruelling.”
First of Its Kind
Sarkozy, who served as France’s president for a five-year term, set a precedent as former head in the European Union and the first postwar leader of France to serve time in prison.
Before entering jail he declared he intended to spend the period for authoring a memoir.
Cell Library
It is not certain if he found the opportunity to read and critique the volumes he took into prison: a two-volume biography of Jesus plus the novel by Dumas The Count of Monte Cristo, where a wrongfully accused individual is imprisoned but escapes to seek vengeance.
Prison Conditions
He was held in solitary confinement to protect him in a room of about nine sq metres with his own shower and toilet in the Paris jail located in the capital. Guards occupied the next cell.
It was stated his diet consisted solely dairy snacks while inside worried that prison cuisine could have been tampered with. Although he had access for self-catering yet he declined, according to reports. Not known is if he will detail what he ate in prison.
Defense Viewpoint
His attorney, Christophe Ingrain each day throughout the jail term, informed the court security would be better out of prison rather than in custody. “There were menacing messages, heard shouts after dark and emergency responses next door during an inmate’s self-injury.”
Legal Proceedings
He entered custody in late October following the judiciary sentenced him to a half-decade term for criminal conspiracy related to a plan to obtain campaign funds for his 2007 presidential race.
He denies wrongdoing and is contesting the ruling, and a fresh trial planned for early next year.
