🔗 Share this article

Nicolas Sarkozy is preparing a book next month titled Diary of a Prisoner, detailing his experience endured behind bars.

The revelation came shortly following the ex-leader was released as he contests the court ruling on charges of illegal collaboration connected to efforts to secure presidential race money provided by the government of the late Libyan dictator.

Prison Experience: Solitary Musings

“Inside jail one sees little, and activities are scarce,” he writes in an extract, implying the book is more about his reflections from isolation as opposed to extensive analysis of the packed and troubled jail system in France.

“Silence escapes me, which is missing in that facility, where noise is endless commotion,” he continues. “The din unfortunately never stops. However, akin to empty spaces, personal reflection is fortified in prison.”

Freedom Plea: Recounting the Hardship

At his release request hearing, Sarkozy participated by video link from his cell, describing his time inside as exhausting. He expressed in court: “I want to pay tribute those working in the jail, displaying remarkable compassion, easing this difficult experience manageable – because it is a nightmare.”

“I never imagined that in my seventies, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal I must endure. I confess it’s hard, it’s very hard. It has an impact on any prisoner due to its intensity.”

Unprecedented Situation

He, who served as France’s president from 2007 to 2012, became the inaugural former head of an EU country and the first leader since WWII of France to serve time in prison.

Ahead of his incarceration he mentioned he planned to utilize the opportunity to write a book.

Cell Library

It is not certain did he manage to go through the three books he brought with him: a life story of Jesus spanning two books plus the novel by Dumas the classic tale, in which an innocent man ends up incarcerated but escapes to take revenge.

Life in Confinement

Sarkozy was placed in solitary confinement to protect him in a cell of about nine sq metres featuring a personal bathroom in the Paris jail in the city. Security personnel occupied the next cell.

Sources mentioned that he had eaten solely dairy snacks while inside because he feared meals provided could have been tampered with. Options were available to prepare his own meals but he turned this down, according to reports. It is uncertain if he will detail his dietary choices.

Legal Perspective

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Christophe Ingrain daily while he was in prison, stated during proceedings security would be better released than inside. “He received menacing messages, heard shouts during nighttime and the urgent intervention in a neighbouring cell as a detainee harmed themselves.”

Legal Proceedings

Sarkozy went to prison in late October after the judiciary gave him a half-decade term on conspiracy charges over a scheme to obtain campaign funds for his presidential bid.

He disputes the charges and is contesting the ruling, with a new trial planned for early next year.