FLASH
Shkruar nga Borjanka Milatoviç
"Diary of a Prisoner" does not prove that the system is just. It shows that the system is possible. That there are two justices: one for the anonymous and one for the powerful...
There are societies where prison marks the end of a political career. There are others where it is a silent shame, never spoken of again. And then there is the France of our day, a country where a former president of the Republic, legally convicted of serious crimes, spends a symbolic number of days in prison, comes out almost unscathed and then, almost without interruption, publishes a book entitled "Diary of a Prisoner", turning punishment into media content, justice into a literary genre and personal responsibility into a bestseller.
If this scenario is possible in a country that sees itself as the cradle of modern democracy, then the question is no longer what happened to Nicolas Sarkozy, but what happened to France and the European concept of justice in general.
Nicolas Sarkozy was not convicted of a procedural error or a political failure. He was convicted of corruption and abuse of influence, and his name will forever be linked to issues of illegal financing of presidential campaigns, including the Libyan money affair, one of the most serious stains on modern French politics. These are acts that affect the very essence of the democratic order: trust in institutions, equality before the law, and the integrity of elections.
Formally, the sentence was imprisonment. In reality, Sarkozy spent just over twenty days in La Santé prison, after which he was released, with justifications related to appeal procedures, age and health. In other words: he had to go to prison, but in fact he did not have to "experience" it. The former president's stay had very little in common with the experience of the average prisoner in France: a separate and secure cell; regular and facilitated visits with family and lawyers; constant contact with the outside world; opportunities to write and work; treatment reserved for people with "special status". It was not a punishment in the strict sense of the word.
It was a prison without real deprivation, without anonymity, and without loss of control. And it is from this space, the space of privilege, that a book emerges that presents itself as a universal testimony to the prison experience.
The fact that Sarkozy did not wait long gives this case special weight. The book was published almost immediately after its release and was promoted with strong media support.
The result? Over 100,000 copies sold in record time, topping the sales charts, the status of the publishing event of the season. While thousands of people emerge from prison broken, stigmatized and invisible, the former president emerges with a massive circulation. In any other context, this story would seem familiar. Too familiar. Like a story from a country where institutions are weak, justice is selective and the powerful use court decisions as episodes of a personal PR project. More like a story from Serbia than from France.
But therein lies its deepest problem. Because this is not happening on the European periphery, but in its symbolic center. In a country that lectures others about the rule of law, while demonstrating how punishment can be neutralized by status and guilt repackaged into a luxury publishing product.
"Diary of a Prisoner " does not prove that the system is just. It shows that the system is possible. That there are two justices: one for the anonymous and one for the powerful.
While ordinary people lose years, dignity, and futures, the former president loses a few weeks, and gains a confession. Not to face responsibility. Not to apologize. But to regain control of history.
If a former president can come out of prison as a bestselling author rather than a convict, then the problem is not just him. The problem is a society that has decided that justice ends where privilege begins. In that sense, this book is not just a scandal; it is a document of the times./ Pamphlet
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