The Former French President Preparing to Release Jail Diary Documenting Two Dozen Days Incarcerated
The ex-president of France will soon publish a memoir in the coming weeks titled Diary of a Prisoner, which recounts his experience endured behind bars.
The announcement came less than two weeks after the former president left prison while he contests the guilty verdict on charges of unlawful coordination regarding a scheme to obtain presidential race money from the regime of former Libyan leader.
Life Behind Bars: Solitary Musings
“Behind bars there is nothing to see, with little to occupy time,” he reflects in one passage, indicating the account is more about his reflections while in seclusion instead of extensive analysis of the packed and troubled jail system in France.
“Silence escapes me, not present in La Santé, where noise is endless commotion,” he adds. “The din unfortunately never stops. But, just like the desert, personal reflection is strengthened in prison.”
Court Appearance: Recounting the Hardship
While appealing for release, he participated via screen from his cell, depicting prison life as draining. He stated to the judge: “I want to pay tribute the correctional officers, showing great humanity, and who have made this difficult experience tolerable – as it truly is one.”
“I didn’t expect at this stage of life, I’d find myself behind bars. 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.”
First of Its Kind
Sarkozy, the ex-head of state from 2007 to 2012, became the inaugural former head from the EU and the first postwar leader in the French Republic to serve time in prison.
Prior to imprisonment he declared he intended to spend the period for authoring a memoir.
Cell Library
It is not certain whether he had time to go through the volumes he had in his cell: a biography of Jesus in two parts and Alexandre Dumas’s novel The Count of Monte Cristo, where a blameless person is sentenced to jail then breaks out to seek vengeance.
Prison Conditions
He was placed secluded to protect him in a space approximately nine square meters including private facilities in the Paris jail in the city. Two bodyguards occupied the next cell.
Reports indicated his diet consisted solely dairy snacks while inside worried that any food might have been spat on. He had facilities to cook for himself but he turned this down, based on unnamed sources. It is uncertain whether Sarkozy will write about what he ate in prison.
Defense Viewpoint
The legal representative, Christophe Ingrain each day throughout the jail term, informed the court his safety would improve outside jail rather than in custody. “There were death threats, heard shouts at night and the urgent intervention next door when a prisoner self-harmed.”
Charges and Sentence
He entered custody in late October after a Paris court imposed a half-decade term on conspiracy charges in connection with efforts to secure campaign funds for his presidential bid.
He maintains his innocence and is contesting the ruling, with a new trial set for the coming spring.