France's Sarkozy to publish 'diary of a prisoner' over 3-week jail stint

PARIS (AFP) — France’s former President Nicolas Sarkozy will publish a book next month about his experience of serving three weeks in jail, he announced on Friday, less than a fortnight after his release.

Sarkozy, 70, last month became the first president in the history of modern France to go to jail after his conviction for allowing aides to seek to collect money for his 2007 presidential election campaign from Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

The book, entitled “Diary of a Prisoner” (“Le journal d’un prisonnier” in French) is to be published on Dec. 10.

It is being published by Fayard, which is controlled by right-wing billionaire Vincent Bollore, whose stable includes the influential TV channel CNews and who is seen as exercising a growing influence on French media and politics.

“In prison, there’s nothing to see, and nothing to do,” Sarkozy wrote on X, announcing the publication of the book.

“I forget the silence that doesn’t exist at La Sante prison, where there’s so much to hear. The noise is — alas — constant. Like the desert, one’s inner life is strengthened in prison,” he added, giving a flavor of the book’s tone.

It is 216 pages long and will retail for 20.90 euros ($24), said Fayard.

Sarkozy, a one-term president from 2007-2012, remains an influential figure on the right despite the legal problems that have dogged him since leaving office.

He was received by President Emmanuel Macron before entering prison and Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin, a former protege, met Sarkozy inside La Sante jail, which sparked some criticism.

Sarkozy was allowed to go free despite being handed a five-year sentence in the case after an appeals court ruled there was no flight risk.

But it imposed restrictions on Sarkozy, such as a foreign travel ban and having no contact with certain officials, including Darmanin.

Sarkozy has always maintained his innocence. An appeals trial is to get underway in March.

He has also been convicted already in two other trials but until now always avoided jail, in one case serving his graft sentence with an electronic tag, which has since been removed.

Sarkozy has also been stripped of the Legion of Honor, France’s highest distinction.

—

By Agence France-Presse