🔗 Share this article

The ex-president of France will soon publish a book this autumn named Diary of a Prisoner, which recounts his time endured in jail.

The announcement emerged shortly following Sarkozy was released while his appeal proceeds his conviction on charges of criminal conspiracy regarding a scheme to secure election campaign funds from the government of former Libyan leader.

Time in Custody: Inner Thoughts

“In prison visibility is limited, and nothing to do,” he reflects in an extract, implying the book centers around his thoughts while in solitary confinement as opposed to extensive analysis of the overcrowded and crisis-hit correctional facilities in the country.

“Silence escapes me, which is missing at the prison, where noise is constant sound,” he adds. “The racket persists relentlessly. But, just like the desert, inner life grows stronger while incarcerated.”

Freedom Plea: Sharing the Struggle

At his release request hearing, the former leader was present remotely from inside the facility, characterizing his incarceration as draining. He had told the court: “I wish to commend those working in the jail, showing great humanity, and who helped make this ordeal bearable – because it is a nightmare.”

“It never crossed my mind that in my seventies, I’d be in prison. It’s a hardship that has been imposed on me. I confess it’s hard, extremely tough. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.”

First of Its Kind

He, the ex-head of state from 2007 to 2012, became the inaugural former head in the European Union and the first postwar leader in the French Republic to serve time in prison.

Ahead of his incarceration he declared he would use his time to write a book.

Reading Material

It remains unclear did he manage to review and analyze the volumes 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 an innocent man is sentenced to jail but escapes to exact retribution.

Life in Confinement

The former leader was held in solitary confinement to protect him in a room approximately nine square meters including private facilities at La Santé prison located in the capital. Two bodyguards stayed in a neighbouring cell.

Reports indicated that he had eaten just yogurt in prison due to concerns any food may have been contaminated. Options were available for self-catering but he turned this down, as per accounts. Unclear remains whether Sarkozy will write about meals during incarceration.

Legal Perspective

The legal representative, who visited his client daily while he was in prison, told the release hearing security would be better released rather than in custody. “There were menacing messages, has heard screaming at night and the urgent intervention in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner self-harmed.”

Charges and Sentence

His incarceration began last month after a Paris court imposed five years in prison on conspiracy charges in connection with efforts to secure political donations for his presidential bid.

He denies wrongdoing and is contesting the ruling, and a fresh trial set for the coming spring.