The Former French President Set to Write Jail Diary Chronicling Three Weeks In Custody
The ex-president of France will soon publish a personal account this autumn called A Prisoner’s Diary, detailing the period spent in custody.
The revelation came less than two weeks after the ex-leader gained freedom as he contests the guilty verdict on charges of unlawful coordination in a case to obtain presidential race money provided by the leadership of the late Libyan dictator.
Life Behind Bars: Solitary Musings
“In prison visibility is limited, and activities are scarce,” he notes in an extract, indicating the memoir is more about his musings while in seclusion as opposed to wider commentary on the overcrowded and crisis-hit jail system in France.
“Silence escapes me, which is missing at the prison, where one hears a lot to hear,” he continues. “The din persists relentlessly. Yet, similar to barren lands, personal reflection is strengthened in prison.”
Court Appearance: Sharing the Struggle
While appealing for release, the former leader participated by video link from his cell, describing his time inside as draining. He expressed in court: “I wish to commend those working in the jail, showing great humanity, easing this nightmare tolerable – as it truly is one.”
“It never crossed my mind that in my seventies, I would end up incarcerated. It’s a hardship I must endure. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, deeply straining. It affects one every inmate due to its intensity.”
Unprecedented Situation
The former president, who served as France’s president for a five-year term, was the first former head from the EU and the first leader since WWII in the French Republic to be incarcerated.
Ahead of his incarceration he mentioned he intended to spend the period to write a book.
Cell Library
It is not certain whether he had time to review and analyze the texts he took into prison: a life story of Jesus spanning two books and Alexandre Dumas’s novel the classic tale, a plot where an innocent man is sentenced to jail then breaks out to take revenge.
Prison Conditions
He was placed in solitary confinement due to safety concerns in a room of about nine sq metres with his own shower and toilet in the Paris jail in the city. Two bodyguards occupied a neighbouring cell.
Sources mentioned that he had eaten just yogurt in prison because he feared meals provided might have been spat on. Options were available for self-catering but he turned this down, based on unnamed sources. Not known is whether Sarkozy will write about his dietary choices.
Defense Viewpoint
His attorney, who saw him regularly every day throughout the jail term, stated during proceedings security would be better outside jail rather than in custody. “There were menacing messages, has heard screaming at night plus rapid actions in a neighbouring cell during an inmate’s self-injury.”
Case Background
Sarkozy went to prison last month following a Paris court gave him a five-year sentence on conspiracy charges over a scheme to secure political donations for his 2007 presidential race.
He disputes the charges challenging the decision, with a new trial set for the coming spring.