Once hailed as the most powerful man in France, Nicolas Sarkozy now finds himself at the center of a national reckoning, having become the first French head of state to serve jail time since the end of World War II. At 70, Sarkozy’s brief but historic three-week incarceration at Paris’s notorious La Santé prison has been laid bare in a new memoir, Le journal d'un prisonnier (The Diary of a Prisoner), and through a series of candid interviews that have ignited fierce debate across the country.
The saga began in October 2025, when Sarkozy was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in an alleged criminal conspiracy to secure illegal campaign funding from Libya’s former dictator, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, for his 2007 presidential bid. Sarkozy has consistently denied all charges, insisting on his innocence. According to FRANCE 24, the conviction made him the first modern French president to be jailed, a fact that has shocked both his supporters and detractors.
Sarkozy’s time behind bars was, by all accounts, a far cry from the gilded halls of the Élysée Palace he once called home. Confined to a 12-square-metre solitary cell for his safety, Sarkozy described the environment as utterly devoid of color. “Grey dominated everything, devoured everything, covered all surfaces,” he wrote in his diary, as quoted by Le Figaro. The monotony was broken only by the constant noise and the unchanging routine of prison life. “In prison, there is nothing to see and nothing to do,” he reflected, adding with a philosopher’s resignation, “the noise is unfortunately constant. But, as in the desert, the interior life is strengthened in prison.”
For his own protection, Sarkozy was housed in isolation, guarded around the clock by armed officers—one even slept in a cell next door. Most inmates at La Santé share their quarters, but the former president’s high profile meant he was kept apart to prevent any potential incidents. Meals were modest and repetitive, consisting mostly of “dairy products, cereal bars, mineral water, apple juice, and a few sweet treats,” as he recounted to Le Figaro and confirmed by FRANCE 24. He was confined to his cell for 23 hours a day, with only brief respites for visiting hours.
Despite the bleakness, Sarkozy found himself reflecting deeply on his life’s trajectory. “I had to answer this simple question, ‘But how did I get here?’ I had to reflect on this strange life of mine, which has led me through so many extreme situations,” he told Le Figaro. His interviewer noted that prison had left its mark: deeper wrinkles, a thinner frame, and a more contemplative air. Sarkozy did not shy away from the observation, stating bluntly, “Prison is very hard.”
Solitude forced Sarkozy inward. On his first night, after watching a football match, he knelt to pray: “It came naturally. I stayed like that for several minutes. I prayed for the strength to bear the cross of this injustice.” This moment marked a return to faith for the former president, who later described a Sunday visit from the prison chaplain as unexpectedly comforting. “Was it the sign I’d been waiting for? I don’t know, but it allowed me to spend that Sunday of anticipated solitude with great peace of mind,” he wrote. Defiantly, he added, “Some may scoff at this kind of sudden conversion. They will undoubtedly interpret it as a sign of weakness, at best a passing one. I don’t care, since these are the feelings I deeply experienced.”
While incarcerated, Sarkozy’s reading included a biography of Jesus and Alexandre Dumas’s The Count of Monte Cristo—the latter a classic tale of unjust imprisonment, perhaps resonating a little too closely for comfort. He wrote his memoir by hand, using a ballpoint pen at a small plywood table, and finished the manuscript just days after his release on November 10, 2025. “I wrote most of the book while behind bars, writing with a ballpoint pen on a small plywood table every day,” he told Le Figaro. The manuscript was first shown to his wife, singer-songwriter and former model Carla Bruni, who “loved it,” before being reviewed by his lawyers, who removed certain passages.
The contrast between Sarkozy’s final days of freedom and his incarceration was stark. Just two days before reporting to prison, he was formally welcomed by President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace—a dizzying juxtaposition he described as almost surreal. “Could one imagine a more striking contrast?,” he mused in his diary. The day of his incarceration, he was photographed kissing Carla Bruni goodbye before leaving for La Santé, a moment captured by Daily Mail and widely circulated in the French press.
The publication of The Diary of a Prisoner on December 10, 2025, has already become a national event. Pre-orders have sent the book soaring up bestseller lists, and Sarkozy is set to embark on a publicity tour, beginning with a signing at a bookshop near his home in Paris’s affluent 16th arrondissement—ironically, just minutes from the prison itself. He will also appear alongside his son Louis, who is running for mayor in next year’s local elections.
Public reaction to the memoir has been deeply polarized. Loyal supporters praise Sarkozy’s candor and resilience, while critics dismiss the book as self-serving. According to Daily Mail, about 60 percent of the French public supported his sentence, while many on the right believe he was hounded by politically motivated prosecutors. The controversy has only deepened with recent revelations: Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin, a former Sarkozy protégé, visited him inside prison, sparking criticism and raising questions about propriety at the highest levels of government.
Sarkozy’s legal troubles are far from over. If his appeal, scheduled for March 2026, fails, he could be sent back to prison for a much longer stint. Complicating matters further, France’s highest court recently upheld a separate conviction for campaign spending violations during his failed 2012 re-election bid, resulting in six months of house arrest after he was found to have spent nearly double the legal cap. He previously served part of this sentence with an electronic ankle tag, which was only removed in May 2025. There is also the looming possibility of another trial concerning alleged pressure on a witness, Ziad Takieddine, who initially claimed to have delivered cash from Libya but later recanted. Carla Bruni, Sarkozy’s wife, is under judicial supervision in connection with this witness’s retraction, though both she and Sarkozy deny any wrongdoing.
Despite everything, Sarkozy remains an influential—if controversial—figure on the French right. His memoir, a rare glimpse into the inner world of a fallen leader, has sparked nationwide soul-searching about justice, power, and the limits of redemption. As France awaits the outcome of his appeal, the story of Nicolas Sarkozy’s prison ordeal continues to captivate, challenge, and divide.
