The Former French President to Pen Jail Diary Detailing His 20 Days Incarcerated
The ex-president of France is preparing a book this autumn named Diary of a Prisoner, chronicling the period endured in jail.
This news came just 11 days following the former president gained freedom while he appeals his conviction related to illegal collaboration in a case to acquire election campaign funds provided by the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.
Time in Custody: Inner Thoughts
“In prison visibility is limited, and activities are scarce,” he reflects in one passage, indicating the account centers around his thoughts from isolation instead of a broader observation on the overcrowded and crisis-hit correctional facilities in the country.
“Silence escapes me, not present in La Santé, where there is a lot to hear,” he states. “The din persists relentlessly. Yet, similar to barren lands, inner life grows stronger while incarcerated.”
Release Hearing: Describing the Ordeal
At his release request hearing, he was present remotely from a room in prison, depicting prison life as exhausting. He expressed in court: “I want to pay tribute to all the prison staff, who are exceptionally humane, and who have made this difficult experience bearable – as it truly is one.”
“I never imagined that in my seventies, I’d find myself behind bars. It’s an ordeal forced upon me. I confess it’s hard, deeply straining. It leaves a mark on any prisoner because it’s gruelling.”
Unprecedented Situation
He, who led the nation between 2007 and 2012, was the first past president in the European Union and the initial post-WWII figure in the French Republic to serve time in prison.
Prior to imprisonment he declared he would use his time to write a book.
Reading Material
It is not certain whether he had time to go through the three books he took into prison: a life story of Jesus spanning two books plus the novel by Dumas The Count of Monte Cristo, where a wrongfully accused individual is sentenced to jail later flees to exact retribution.
Daily Reality
The former leader was placed in solitary confinement for his own security in a room roughly 100 square feet including private facilities at La Santé prison in the city. Two bodyguards stayed in an adjacent room.
Reports indicated that he had eaten only yoghurts during his stay worried that prison cuisine may have been contaminated. Although he had access to prepare his own meals yet he declined, according to reports. Not known is if the memoir includes what he ate in prison.
Lawyer’s Statements
The legal representative, who saw him regularly every day during the incarceration, informed the court security would be better outside jail compared to inside. “He received death threats, listened to yells after dark plus rapid actions in an adjacent room during an inmate’s self-injury.”
Legal Proceedings
He entered custody on 21 October after the judiciary imposed a half-decade term for criminal conspiracy related to a plan to acquire political donations for his presidential bid.
He maintains his innocence and has appealed against the verdict, with a new trial set for next spring.
