Nicolas Sarkozy Preparing to Release Prison Memoir Detailing Two Dozen Days Incarcerated
The ex-president of France will soon publish a personal account next month called Notes from a Cell, detailing his experience spent behind bars.
This news came shortly following Sarkozy left prison while he contests the guilty verdict on charges of criminal conspiracy in a case to obtain election campaign funds linked to the government of the late Libyan dictator.
Life Behind Bars: Personal Reflections
“Inside jail there is nothing to see, with little to occupy time,” he notes in one passage, implying the memoir centers around his musings from isolation as opposed to extensive analysis regarding the strained and struggling jail system in France.
“Quiet is absent, which is missing at the prison, where noise is a lot to hear,” he continues. “The noise persists relentlessly. However, akin to empty spaces, inner life is fortified while incarcerated.”
Release Hearing: Sharing the Struggle
While appealing for release, he was present remotely from his cell, depicting prison life as exhausting. He had told the court: “I want to pay tribute the correctional officers, who are exceptionally humane, and who helped make this ordeal tolerable – because it is a nightmare.”
“It never crossed my mind at this stage of life, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal forced upon me. I admit it’s difficult, extremely tough. It affects one on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.”
Historical Context
He, who served as France’s president between 2007 and 2012, set a precedent as former head in the European Union and the first leader since WWII in the French Republic to experience jail.
Before entering jail he mentioned he planned to utilize the opportunity to write a book.
Cell Library
It is not certain whether he had time to read and critique the three books he took into prison: a life story of Jesus spanning two books and Alexandre Dumas’s novel the classic tale, where an innocent man is sentenced to jail then breaks out to take revenge.
Life in Confinement
Sarkozy was placed in solitary confinement for his own security in a cell of about nine sq metres with his own shower and toilet in the Paris jail in the city. Security personnel stayed in a neighbouring cell.
Sources mentioned that he consumed just yogurt in prison because he feared any food might have been spat on. Although he had access to cook for himself but he turned this down, based on unnamed sources. Not known is whether Sarkozy will write about meals during incarceration.
Legal Perspective
His attorney, who saw him regularly each day during the incarceration, informed the court his safety would improve outside jail compared to inside. “He has faced menacing messages, has heard screaming during nighttime and the urgent intervention in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner self-harmed.”
Case Background
Sarkozy went to prison on 21 October following the judiciary imposed five years in prison for criminal conspiracy related to a plan to secure election financing for his presidential bid.
He maintains his innocence and is contesting the ruling, and another court case set for next spring.
