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

The ex-president of France will soon publish a book in the coming weeks named Notes from a Cell, chronicling his experience endured behind bars.

The announcement emerged shortly after the ex-leader was released while he appeals the court ruling for criminal conspiracy in a case to obtain political financing from the regime of the late Libyan dictator.

Time in Custody: Solitary Musings

“Behind bars there is nothing to see, and nothing to do,” he reflects in an extract, suggesting the book centers around his reflections from solitary confinement as opposed to wider commentary regarding the strained and struggling correctional facilities in the country.

“Silence escapes me, which is missing at the prison, where one hears constant sound,” he adds. “The din persists relentlessly. Yet, similar to barren lands, inner life is fortified behind bars.”

Freedom Plea: Sharing the Struggle

At his release request hearing, the former leader had appeared remotely from a room in prison, characterizing his incarceration as gruelling. He had told the court: “I wish to commend the correctional officers, displaying remarkable compassion, easing this difficult experience tolerable – because it is a nightmare.”

“It never crossed my mind at this stage of life, I would end up incarcerated. It’s a trial forced upon me. I confess it’s hard, extremely tough. It leaves a mark on any prisoner due to its intensity.”

First of Its Kind

The former president, the ex-head of state from 2007 to 2012, became the inaugural former head in the European Union and the initial post-WWII figure in the French Republic to be incarcerated.

Prior to imprisonment he had said he would use his time to write a book.

Reading Material

It is not certain if he found the opportunity to read and critique the three books he had in his cell: a two-volume biography of Jesus plus the novel by Dumas The Count of Monte Cristo, a plot where an innocent man is imprisoned later flees to take revenge.

Prison Conditions

Sarkozy remained secluded for his own security in a room of about nine sq metres including private facilities in the Paris jail located in the capital. Guards occupied an adjacent room.

Sources mentioned that he consumed solely dairy snacks in prison because he feared meals provided may have been contaminated. Options were available to cook for himself but he turned this down, based on unnamed sources. Not known is whether Sarkozy will write about what he ate in prison.

Defense Viewpoint

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Christophe Ingrain every day while he was in prison, informed the court he would be safer out of prison compared to inside. “He received menacing messages, has heard screaming during nighttime and emergency responses next door when a prisoner self-harmed.”

Case Background

Sarkozy went to prison last month when a French court imposed a half-decade term for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to acquire political donations for his presidential bid.

He denies wrongdoing challenging the decision, with a new trial planned for next spring.