The Former French President to Pen Prison Memoir Documenting Three Weeks In Custody

Nicolas Sarkozy plans a memoir next month titled Notes from a Cell, which recounts the period endured in custody.

This news emerged shortly after the former president left prison as he contests the court ruling for criminal conspiracy connected to efforts to obtain presidential race money from the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.

Prison Experience: Solitary Musings

“In prison visibility is limited, with little to occupy time,” he notes in one passage, indicating the book will focus on his thoughts while in seclusion instead of extensive analysis on the strained and crisis-hit correctional facilities in the country.

“Silence escapes me, which is missing in that facility, where one hears a lot to hear,” he states. “The din is alas constant. But, just like the desert, inner life is strengthened while incarcerated.”

Release Hearing: Describing the Ordeal

At his release request hearing, Sarkozy was present remotely from a room in prison, characterizing his incarceration as gruelling. He stated to the judge: “I wish to commend the correctional officers, showing great humanity, and who helped make this nightmare bearable – as it truly is one.”

“I never imagined at this stage of life, I would end up incarcerated. It’s a trial forced upon me. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, extremely tough. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.”

First of Its Kind

Sarkozy, who led the nation between 2007 and 2012, became the inaugural former head of an EU country and the first leader since WWII in the French Republic to be incarcerated.

Ahead of his incarceration he had said he intended to spend the period for authoring a memoir.

Cell Library

It remains unclear if he found the opportunity to go through the texts he brought with him: a life story of Jesus spanning two books plus the novel by Dumas The Count of Monte Cristo, where an innocent man ends up incarcerated but escapes to seek vengeance.

Life in Confinement

Sarkozy was held in solitary confinement to protect him in a room of about nine sq metres with his own shower and toilet at La Santé prison in Paris. Two bodyguards occupied the next cell.

Reports indicated that he consumed just yogurt while inside because he feared prison cuisine may have been contaminated. He had facilities for self-catering yet he declined, according to reports. Not known is if the memoir includes what he ate in prison.

Lawyer’s Statements

His attorney, who saw him regularly every day throughout the jail term, stated during proceedings his safety would improve released compared to inside. “There were death threats, heard shouts during nighttime and the urgent intervention in an adjacent room during an inmate’s self-injury.”

Charges and Sentence

His incarceration began last month after the judiciary sentenced him to five years in prison on conspiracy charges in connection with efforts to acquire political donations for his 2007 presidential race.

He maintains his innocence and is contesting the ruling, with a new trial is scheduled for the coming spring.