🔗 Share this article Nicolas Sarkozy to Pen Prison Memoir Detailing His 20 Days Incarcerated The ex-president of France will soon publish a memoir in the coming weeks named Diary of a Prisoner, chronicling his time endured in jail. The announcement was made just 11 days after the former president was released as his appeal proceeds the guilty verdict for criminal conspiracy connected to efforts to obtain election campaign funds linked to the government of Muammar Gaddafi. Prison Experience: Inner Thoughts “Behind bars visibility is limited, with little to occupy time,” he writes in an extract, suggesting the memoir centers around his thoughts while in solitary confinement instead of wider commentary regarding the overcrowded and struggling correctional facilities in the country. “I forget silence, not present in La Santé, where there is a lot to hear,” he continues. “The noise unfortunately never stops. But, just like the desert, personal reflection grows stronger in prison.” Release Hearing: Describing the Ordeal During his plea for freedom, he participated remotely from a room in prison, characterizing his incarceration as draining. He expressed in court: “I must acknowledge those working in the jail, showing great humanity, and who have made this difficult experience bearable – as it truly is one.” “It never crossed my mind that in my seventies, I would end up incarcerated. It’s a hardship that has been imposed on me. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, extremely tough. It has an impact on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.” Unprecedented Situation He, the ex-head of state for a five-year term, was the first ex-leader from the EU and the initial post-WWII figure from France to experience jail. Ahead of his incarceration he had said he would use his time to write a book. Books in Prison It remains unclear if he found the opportunity to review and analyze the three books he brought with him: a biography of Jesus in two parts and Alexandre Dumas’s novel The Count of Monte Cristo, in which a wrongfully accused individual is imprisoned but escapes to seek vengeance. Prison Conditions The former leader was placed in isolation due to safety concerns in a space approximately nine square meters with his own shower and toilet at the correctional facility in Paris. Two bodyguards were stationed in an adjacent room. Sources mentioned that he had eaten only yoghurts while inside due to concerns prison cuisine could have been tampered with. Options were available for self-catering but he turned this down, as per accounts. It is uncertain if he will detail what he ate in prison. Defense Viewpoint His attorney, Christophe Ingrain each day during the incarceration, stated during proceedings security would be better out of prison compared to inside. “He has faced death threats, has heard screaming after dark and emergency responses in an adjacent room during an inmate’s self-injury.” Legal Proceedings His incarceration began last month after a Paris court imposed five years in prison on conspiracy charges in connection with efforts to secure election financing for his presidential bid. He denies wrongdoing and is contesting the ruling, and a fresh trial set for the coming spring.