🔗 Share this article

The ex-president of France plans a memoir this autumn titled Notes from a Cell, chronicling his experience spent behind bars.

This news was made less than two weeks following the ex-leader left prison as he appeals the guilty verdict on charges of criminal conspiracy in a case to secure presidential race money from the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi.

Prison Experience: Solitary Musings

“Behind bars one sees little, and nothing to do,” he notes in one passage, suggesting the book is more about his musings during isolation rather than wider commentary of the packed and struggling correctional facilities in the country.

“I forget silence, which doesn’t exist at the prison, where one hears constant sound,” he states. “The noise persists relentlessly. However, akin to empty spaces, one’s inner world is fortified in prison.”

Freedom Plea: Sharing the Struggle

During his plea for freedom, Sarkozy participated remotely from his cell, characterizing his incarceration as draining. He expressed in court: “I wish to commend to all the prison staff, showing great humanity, easing this nightmare manageable – since it’s deeply troubling.”

“It never crossed my mind at this stage of life, I’d be in prison. It’s a trial I must endure. I confess it’s hard, extremely tough. It has an impact on any prisoner as it’s exhausting.”

First of Its Kind

Sarkozy, who served as France’s president from 2007 to 2012, became the inaugural former head in the European Union and the first leader since WWII of France to experience jail.

Prior to imprisonment he mentioned he intended to spend the period to write a book.

Cell Library

Unconfirmed is whether he had time to go through the volumes he had in his cell: a two-volume biography of Jesus plus the novel by Dumas the famous story, in which a blameless person is imprisoned but escapes to exact retribution.

Life in Confinement

The former leader was placed in isolation due to safety concerns in a cell approximately nine square meters with his own shower and toilet in the Paris jail in Paris. Guards stayed in a neighbouring cell.

Sources mentioned that he consumed solely dairy snacks during his stay due to concerns prison cuisine might have been spat on. He had facilities for self-catering yet he declined, as per accounts. Not known is whether Sarkozy will write about what he ate in prison.

Legal Perspective

The legal representative, who saw him regularly every day during the incarceration, stated during proceedings security would be better out of prison than inside. “He received death threats, heard shouts at night and the urgent intervention in an adjacent room as a detainee harmed themselves.”

Case Background

Sarkozy went to prison last month when a French court sentenced him to a five-year sentence for illegal collaboration over a scheme to secure campaign funds for his 2007 presidential race.

He maintains his innocence challenging the decision, with a new trial is scheduled for early next year.