Nicolas Sarkozy is preparing a memoir this autumn named Diary of a Prisoner, chronicling the period spent in custody.
The revelation was made just 11 days following Sarkozy left prison as his appeal proceeds the guilty verdict on charges of unlawful coordination regarding a scheme to obtain presidential race money from the leadership of the late Libyan dictator.
“In prison visibility is limited, and nothing to do,” he notes in one passage, implying the memoir will focus on his thoughts from solitary confinement rather than a broader observation on the packed and crisis-hit correctional facilities in the country.
“I forget silence, which doesn’t exist in La Santé, where noise is endless commotion,” he continues. “The din persists relentlessly. But, just like the desert, one’s inner world is strengthened in prison.”
During his plea for freedom, he participated by video link from inside the facility, describing his time inside as gruelling. He stated to the judge: “I wish to commend to all the prison staff, displaying remarkable compassion, easing this ordeal bearable – since it’s deeply troubling.”
“I never imagined that at 70 years of age, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal that has been imposed on me. I confess it’s hard, it’s very hard. It has an impact on any prisoner as it’s exhausting.”
He, who led the nation for a five-year term, was the first past president from the EU and the initial post-WWII figure of France to be incarcerated.
Before entering jail he declared he intended to spend the period for authoring a memoir.
It is not certain whether he had time to go through the three books he had in his cell: a life story of Jesus spanning two books plus the novel by Dumas The Count of Monte Cristo, in which a blameless person is imprisoned but escapes to exact retribution.
Sarkozy was placed in isolation for his own security in a cell approximately nine square meters with his own shower and toilet at La Santé prison in the city. Security personnel stayed in an adjacent room.
It was stated that he consumed solely dairy snacks in prison due to concerns any food could have been tampered with. He had facilities to prepare his own meals but he turned this down, as per accounts. Not known is whether Sarkozy will write about his dietary choices.
Sarkozy’s lawyer, Christophe Ingrain daily during the incarceration, stated during proceedings he would be safer out of prison rather than in custody. “He received menacing messages, heard shouts at night and emergency responses in an adjacent room as a detainee harmed themselves.”
He entered custody on 21 October following a French court imposed five years in prison for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to obtain campaign funds for his presidential bid.
He denies wrongdoing challenging the decision, and another court case is scheduled for the coming spring.
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