ISTANBUL

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday published a memoir describing his three-week detention in Paris’s La Sante prison, drawing criticism from families of victims of the 1989 Union de Transports Aeriens (UTA) Flight 772 bombing, who say they are “distressed” by how he depicts them.

The 216-page book, Diary of a Prisoner, recounts Sarkozy’s incarceration following his September conviction for allowing close associates to seek illicit campaign financing from senior Libyan officials ahead of his 2007 presidential bid, Le Parisien reported.

Sarkozy served 20 days in jail before his release under judicial supervision on Nov. 10. His appeal is scheduled from March 16 to June 3, 2026.

What sparked the strongest backlash is his description of testimony given by families of the bombing victims during the Libyan financing trial.

The attack, carried out by Libyan operatives, killed 170 people from 18 countries when the UTA Flight 772 exploded over Niger on September 19, 1989.

The collective Daughters of DC-10 said the book portrays Sarkozy as unfairly targeted by “ungrateful and vengeful families.”

“Once again, Nicolas Sarkozy reverses the roles, making people believe that he is the real victim,” the group said in a statement, accusing him of distorting facts and concealing the truth.

They also rejected his claim that he personally insisted on receiving them at the Elysee during Muammar Gaddafi’s controversial 2007 visit.

“In reality, only our public and repeated protests forced the Elysee to receive us at the last minute,” they countered.

Sarkozy writes he is surprised victims accuse him of maintaining relations with the Libyan regime, noting that the families themselves had negotiated compensation with Tripoli — €1 million (about $1.16 million) per victim — years earlier.

He also describes the victims’ families’ testimony as “among the most moving moments” of the trial, while saying he was shaken by “the harshness of some remarks” directed at him.

The group called his comment “unwelcome and misleading,” insisting compensation “never absolved a bloodthirsty regime” nor justified Sarkozy’s advisers negotiating with Libyan intelligence chief Abdallah Senoussi, who was convicted in France for the 1989 bombing.

In the memoir, Sarkozy describes the monotony of life in the grey-walled prison, his daily routines, and moments of prayer.

He writes that he asked for “the strength to bear the cross of this injustice,” insisting he remains innocent.

He also recounts a call with far-right leader Marine Le Pen, telling her he would not participate in any “republican front” against the National Rally. Other passages criticize political figures, including French President Emmanuel Macron, and ex-presidential candidate from the Socialist Segolene Royal.

Sarkozy remains definitively convicted in two separate cases — the "wiretapping" affair and the Bygmalion campaign finance scandal — while the appeal in the Libyan case is scheduled for next year.