🔗 Share this article

Nicolas Sarkozy will soon publish a memoir this autumn called A Prisoner’s Diary, detailing his experience spent in jail.

The revelation emerged less than two weeks after Sarkozy left prison while he contests the court ruling on charges of criminal conspiracy in a case to secure election campaign funds linked to the government of Muammar Gaddafi.

Life Behind Bars: Solitary Musings

“Behind bars visibility is limited, and activities are scarce,” he reflects in an extract, indicating the account centers around his musings during solitary confinement instead of extensive analysis of the overcrowded and troubled correctional facilities in the country.

“Silence escapes me, not present in that facility, where noise is constant sound,” he continues. “The noise is alas constant. Yet, similar to barren lands, personal reflection is strengthened while incarcerated.”

Release Hearing: Sharing the Struggle

At his release request hearing, he was present remotely from his cell, characterizing his incarceration as draining. He stated to the judge: “I want to pay tribute those working in the jail, displaying remarkable compassion, easing this nightmare bearable – since it’s deeply troubling.”

“I didn’t expect at this stage of life, I’d find myself behind bars. It’s a hardship forced upon me. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, it’s very hard. It has an impact all who experience it due to its intensity.”

First of Its Kind

Sarkozy, who led the nation between 2007 and 2012, set a precedent as former head in the European Union and the initial post-WWII figure of France to experience jail.

Prior to imprisonment he mentioned he planned to utilize the opportunity to write a book.

Books in Prison

It is not certain if he found the opportunity to read and critique the texts he brought with him: a life story of Jesus spanning two books and Alexandre Dumas’s novel The Count of Monte Cristo, a plot where a blameless person is imprisoned later flees to take revenge.

Prison Conditions

The former leader was held in solitary confinement for his own security in a space roughly 100 square feet featuring a personal bathroom at the correctional facility in Paris. Guards stayed in the next cell.

It was stated his diet consisted only yoghurts in prison due to concerns prison cuisine might have been spat on. He had facilities to prepare his own meals yet he declined, based on unnamed sources. It is uncertain if the memoir includes his dietary choices.

Lawyer’s Statements

Sarkozy’s lawyer, who saw him regularly daily while he was in prison, informed the court security would be better released than inside. “He received death threats, listened to yells at night and the urgent intervention next door when a prisoner self-harmed.”

Case Background

Sarkozy went to prison last month following a French court imposed a five-year sentence on conspiracy charges over a scheme to acquire campaign funds during his election campaign.

He denies wrongdoing and has appealed against the verdict, and another court case set for the coming spring.