France, Dec. 13 -- RFI: What is your impression of Diaryof a Prisoner?

Philippe Moreau-Chevrolet: Nicolas Sarkozy leans heavily on emotion and this fits with his wider media defence strategy, which aims to strengthen his legal defence. He starts talking about his conviction almost straight away, so there is clearly a wish to protect his image for the future - since this is the first time in the history of the Fifth Republic that a president has been sent to prison.

The book focuses on injustice, but it is not a self-pitying story. By bringing in The Count of Monte Cristo - the Alexandre Dumas novel about a man seeking revenge after an unjust conviction, one of the two books he took to La Santeprison in Paris - he shapes the story as one...