‘Diary of a Prisoner’: Sarkozy Describes ‘Greyness and Solitude’ of La Santé Stay

Former President Nicolas Sarkozy Recounts Three Weeks in La Santé

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, 70, describes his three-week incarceration as dominated by "greyness" and solitude in excerpts published from his forthcoming memoir. The passages, released by several French outlets, appear in a 216-page book titled Diary of a Prisoner, due on December 10.

In October, Sarkozy became the first president of modern France to be jailed after a conviction tied to allegations that his aides sought funds for his 2007 presidential campaign from Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi. He was sentenced to five years but served 20 days before being released under restrictions after an appeals court concluded he was not a flight risk.

"Grey dominated everything, devoured everything, covered every surface. I would have given anything to be able to look out the window, to enjoy watching the cars go by," he wrote.

Sarkozy recounts kneeling in prayer on his first night after watching a football match. "It came naturally," he writes. "I stayed like that for several minutes. I prayed for the strength to bear the cross of this injustice." According to the excerpts, he was accompanied by two security officers and confined to his cell about 23 hours a day, apart from visiting time.

He describes a sparse diet of dairy products, cereal bars, mineral water, apple juice and occasional sweets. In an interview with Le Figaro, Sarkozy said he wrote most of the book while detained, "with a ballpoint pen on a small plywood table every day," and finished the manuscript after his release on November 10.

Sarkozy, who served as president from 2007 to 2012, remains an influential figure on France's political right despite multiple legal battles since leaving office. He has consistently denied wrongdoing and an appeals trial is scheduled to begin in March.

Context: The memoir excerpts offer a rare, personal account of prison life from a former head of state and reinforce the ongoing legal and political drama surrounding Sarkozy's career.