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The ex-president of France is preparing a memoir next month called A Prisoner’s Diary, which recounts the period spent in custody.

The revelation was made less than two weeks after the former president left prison as his appeal proceeds the court ruling for illegal collaboration regarding a scheme to acquire election campaign funds provided by the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi.

Prison Experience: Solitary Musings

“Inside jail one sees little, and activities are scarce,” he notes in an extract, indicating the account is more about his thoughts during seclusion rather than wider commentary regarding the packed and troubled correctional facilities in the country.

“Silence escapes me, which is missing in La Santé, where noise is endless commotion,” he states. “The din persists relentlessly. However, akin to empty spaces, one’s inner world grows stronger in prison.”

Freedom Plea: Recounting the Hardship

During his plea for freedom, Sarkozy participated via screen from his cell, characterizing his incarceration as gruelling. He stated to the judge: “I wish to commend to all the prison staff, showing great humanity, and who helped make this nightmare bearable – as it truly is one.”

“I never imagined that at 70 years of age, I’d be in prison. It’s a trial that has been imposed on me. I admit it’s difficult, it’s very hard. It affects one on any prisoner as it’s exhausting.”

Historical Context

The former president, who served as France’s president from 2007 to 2012, set a precedent as former head of an EU country and the first postwar leader in the French Republic to be incarcerated.

Ahead of his incarceration he declared he planned to utilize the opportunity to compose an account.

Cell Library

It is not certain whether he had time to review and analyze the volumes he took into prison: a biography of Jesus in two parts and Alexandre Dumas’s novel the classic tale, where a blameless person is sentenced to jail then breaks out to take revenge.

Prison Conditions

Sarkozy was placed in isolation due to safety concerns in a cell roughly 100 square feet featuring a personal bathroom in the Paris jail located in the capital. Two bodyguards were stationed in the next cell.

Sources mentioned his diet consisted only yoghurts during his stay due to concerns any food may have been contaminated. He had facilities to cook for himself but refused this, according to reports. Unclear remains whether Sarkozy will write about his dietary choices.

Lawyer’s Statements

Sarkozy’s lawyer, Christophe Ingrain daily throughout the jail term, told the release hearing his safety would improve out of prison compared to inside. “He has faced menacing messages, has heard screaming during nighttime and the urgent intervention in an adjacent room when a prisoner self-harmed.”

Case Background

He entered custody in late October following the judiciary sentenced him to five years in prison on conspiracy charges related to a plan to obtain political donations for his presidential bid.

He maintains his innocence and has appealed against the verdict, and a fresh trial is scheduled for the coming spring.