The Former French President Preparing to Release Prison Memoir Detailing His 20 Days In Custody

Nicolas Sarkozy will soon publish a memoir this autumn named Notes from a Cell, detailing his experience endured in custody.

The revelation was made less than two weeks after the ex-leader was released as he appeals the court ruling related to illegal collaboration regarding a scheme to obtain political financing linked to the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi.

Time in Custody: Inner Thoughts

“Inside jail visibility is limited, and nothing to do,” he notes in one passage, suggesting the account centers around his thoughts from seclusion as opposed to extensive analysis regarding the overcrowded and troubled correctional facilities in the country.

“Silence escapes me, which is missing in that facility, where there is endless commotion,” he continues. “The noise persists relentlessly. However, akin to empty spaces, one’s inner world grows stronger while incarcerated.”

Court Appearance: Describing the Ordeal

During his plea for freedom, Sarkozy had appeared by video link from inside the facility, describing his time inside as gruelling. He stated to the judge: “I wish to commend the correctional officers, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this nightmare manageable – because it is a nightmare.”

“I never imagined at this stage of life, I’d find myself behind bars. It’s an ordeal forced upon me. I admit it’s difficult, it’s very hard. It leaves a mark every inmate as it’s exhausting.”

First of Its Kind

He, who led the nation from 2007 to 2012, became the inaugural former head in the European Union and the first postwar leader from France to experience jail.

Before entering jail he had said he would use his time to write a book.

Reading Material

It remains unclear whether he had time to go through the texts he had in his cell: a life story of Jesus spanning two books and Alexandre Dumas’s novel The Count of Monte Cristo, in which a wrongfully accused individual is sentenced to jail then breaks out to seek vengeance.

Life in Confinement

The former leader was placed secluded for his own security in a room roughly 100 square feet with his own shower and toilet at the correctional facility located in the capital. Security personnel occupied the next cell.

It was stated his diet consisted solely dairy snacks during his stay worried that prison cuisine might have been spat on. Options were available for self-catering but he turned this down, as per accounts. Not known is whether Sarkozy will write about what he ate in prison.

Legal Perspective

Sarkozy’s lawyer, who visited his client every day while he was in prison, told the release hearing he would be safer released compared to inside. “There were menacing messages, listened to yells during nighttime plus rapid actions in a neighbouring cell when a prisoner self-harmed.”

Case Background

He entered custody on 21 October when the judiciary gave him five years in prison for illegal collaboration over a scheme to secure political donations for his 2007 presidential race.

He maintains his innocence and has appealed against the verdict, and another court case set for the coming spring.