Nicolas Sarkozy to Pen Jail Diary Documenting Three Weeks Behind Bars
The ex-president of France is preparing a memoir next month named Notes from a Cell, which recounts the period served in jail.
The revelation emerged less than two weeks after the former president gained freedom while his appeal proceeds his conviction related to criminal conspiracy in a case to obtain election campaign funds from the leadership of the late Libyan dictator.
Time in Custody: Personal Reflections
“Inside jail one sees little, and activities are scarce,” he notes in a preview, suggesting the book is more about his musings while in solitary confinement instead of a broader observation regarding the packed and struggling French prison system.
“I forget silence, which doesn’t exist in La Santé, where one hears endless commotion,” he states. “The noise unfortunately never stops. Yet, similar to barren lands, one’s inner world is strengthened behind bars.”
Court Appearance: Recounting the Hardship
At his release request hearing, the former leader participated remotely from inside the facility, describing his time inside as exhausting. He had told the court: “I want to pay tribute the correctional officers, showing great humanity, and who have made this difficult experience tolerable – as it truly is one.”
“It never crossed my mind that in my seventies, I would end up incarcerated. It’s a trial that has been imposed on me. I admit it’s difficult, it’s very hard. It has an impact every inmate because it’s gruelling.”
Unprecedented Situation
Sarkozy, the ex-head of state from 2007 to 2012, set a precedent as ex-leader from the EU and the first leader since WWII from France to experience jail.
Ahead of his incarceration he had said 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 biography of Jesus in two parts plus the novel by Dumas The Count of Monte Cristo, in which a wrongfully accused individual is sentenced to jail but escapes to exact retribution.
Life in Confinement
The former leader was held in solitary confinement due to safety concerns in a cell of about nine sq metres featuring a personal bathroom at La Santé prison in the city. Security personnel occupied a neighbouring cell.
Sources mentioned that he consumed only yoghurts while inside due to concerns meals provided may have been contaminated. Options were available to cook for himself but he turned this down, as per accounts. It is uncertain if he will detail what he ate in prison.
Legal Perspective
The legal representative, who saw him regularly daily during the incarceration, informed the court he would be safer outside jail rather than in custody. “He has faced menacing messages, listened to yells during nighttime plus rapid actions in an adjacent room as a detainee harmed themselves.”
Case Background
His incarceration began on 21 October following a French court gave him a five-year sentence for illegal collaboration in connection with efforts to acquire campaign funds for his presidential bid.
He maintains his innocence challenging the decision, and a fresh trial planned for early next year.
