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The ex-president of France is preparing a memoir next month titled Diary of a Prisoner, detailing the period served in custody.

This news emerged less than two weeks after Sarkozy gained freedom as he contests the court ruling related to illegal collaboration in a case to secure political financing linked to the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi.

Prison Experience: Personal Reflections

“Behind bars there is nothing to see, and activities are scarce,” he reflects in an extract, indicating the memoir is more about his thoughts while in solitary confinement as opposed to extensive analysis regarding the overcrowded and troubled French prison system.

“Quiet is absent, which doesn’t exist in that facility, where one hears a lot to hear,” he states. “The noise persists relentlessly. But, just like the desert, inner life is strengthened while incarcerated.”

Freedom Plea: Sharing the Struggle

At his release request hearing, he was present via screen from his cell, depicting prison life as exhausting. He stated to the judge: “I must acknowledge to all the prison staff, displaying remarkable compassion, easing this nightmare bearable – as it truly is one.”

“I didn’t expect at this stage of life, I’d find myself behind bars. It’s a hardship that has been imposed on me. I confess it’s hard, it’s very hard. It has an impact every inmate as it’s exhausting.”

First of Its Kind

He, who served as France’s president for a five-year term, was the first past president in the European Union and the first leader since WWII from France to experience jail.

Ahead of his incarceration he declared he planned to utilize the opportunity to write a book.

Cell Library

It remains unclear if he found the opportunity to go through the texts he took into prison: a life story of Jesus spanning two books plus the novel by Dumas The Count of Monte Cristo, where a blameless person ends up incarcerated but escapes to seek vengeance.

Life in Confinement

He was held in solitary confinement to protect him in a space of about nine sq metres including private facilities at La Santé prison in Paris. Security personnel occupied the next cell.

Sources mentioned his diet consisted only yoghurts during his stay due to concerns any food could have been tampered with. He had facilities to prepare his own meals yet he declined, based on unnamed sources. Unclear remains whether Sarkozy will write about meals during incarceration.

Lawyer’s Statements

The legal representative, Christophe Ingrain each day throughout the jail term, told the release hearing he would be safer outside jail than inside. “He received death threats, listened to yells at night plus rapid actions next door when a prisoner self-harmed.”

Legal Proceedings

He entered custody last month after the judiciary sentenced him to a five-year sentence on conspiracy charges over a scheme to acquire election financing for his presidential bid.

He disputes the charges and is contesting the ruling, and another court case is scheduled for next spring.