The Former French President to Pen Jail Diary Chronicling Three Weeks Behind Bars
The ex-president of France is preparing a personal account in the coming weeks called Diary of a Prisoner, chronicling his experience spent behind bars.
The announcement emerged less than two weeks after the former president was released as he contests the court ruling for criminal conspiracy connected to efforts to secure election campaign funds from the government of former Libyan leader.
Life Behind Bars: Personal Reflections
“In prison there is nothing to see, with little to occupy time,” he writes in an extract, implying the book is more about his reflections while in seclusion as opposed to wider commentary on the overcrowded and struggling French prison system.
“Quiet is absent, which is missing in that facility, where there is a lot to hear,” he continues. “The racket persists relentlessly. Yet, similar to barren lands, one’s inner world is strengthened behind bars.”
Court Appearance: Recounting the Hardship
While appealing for release, Sarkozy was present by video link from inside the facility, describing his time inside as gruelling. He had told the court: “I must acknowledge the correctional officers, who are exceptionally humane, easing this nightmare tolerable – since it’s deeply troubling.”
“It never crossed my mind that at 70 years of age, I would end up incarcerated. It’s a hardship forced upon me. I admit it’s difficult, extremely tough. It leaves a mark every inmate because it’s gruelling.”
Historical Context
He, the ex-head of state from 2007 to 2012, became the inaugural ex-leader from the EU and the initial post-WWII figure of France to be incarcerated.
Prior to imprisonment he mentioned he planned to utilize the opportunity to compose an account.
Reading Material
It remains unclear if he found the opportunity to review and analyze the volumes he brought with him: a two-volume biography of Jesus together with Dumas’s work the classic tale, where an innocent man is sentenced to jail then breaks out to exact retribution.
Daily Reality
The former leader was held secluded to protect him in a cell of about nine sq metres including private facilities at the correctional facility in the city. Two bodyguards stayed in a neighbouring cell.
Sources mentioned that he consumed just yogurt while inside worried that any food could have been tampered with. He had facilities for self-catering but he turned this down, according to reports. Unclear remains if the memoir includes what he ate in prison.
Legal Perspective
Sarkozy’s lawyer, who visited his client each day during the incarceration, told the release hearing his safety would improve out of prison rather than in custody. “There were death threats, listened to yells after dark and the urgent intervention in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner self-harmed.”
Charges and Sentence
He entered custody in late October when a Paris court sentenced him to five years in prison on conspiracy charges over a scheme to obtain political donations during his election campaign.
He maintains his innocence and has appealed against the verdict, with a new trial planned for next spring.
