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Nicolas Sarkozy is preparing a personal account in the coming weeks called A Prisoner’s Diary, detailing the period spent in jail.

The revelation came shortly after the ex-leader was released as he contests the guilty verdict for illegal collaboration regarding a scheme to secure presidential race money from the government of the late Libyan dictator.

Life Behind Bars: Solitary Musings

“Behind bars there is nothing to see, and nothing to do,” he notes in one passage, indicating the memoir is more about his thoughts from solitary confinement rather than extensive analysis regarding the overcrowded and troubled French prison system.

“I forget silence, which doesn’t exist at the prison, where there is constant sound,” he continues. “The noise is alas constant. But, just like the desert, personal reflection is strengthened while incarcerated.”

Release Hearing: Describing the Ordeal

At his release request hearing, he participated via screen from a room in prison, describing his time inside as gruelling. He had told the court: “I must acknowledge to all the prison staff, showing great humanity, and who helped make this difficult experience bearable – as it truly is one.”

“It never crossed my mind that at 70 years of age, I’d be in prison. It’s a hardship that has been imposed on me. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, extremely tough. It has an impact every inmate because it’s gruelling.”

Unprecedented Situation

Sarkozy, 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 be incarcerated.

Ahead of his incarceration he had said he would use his time for authoring a memoir.

Reading Material

It is not certain whether he had time to review and analyze the volumes he took into prison: a life story of Jesus spanning two books plus the novel by Dumas the classic tale, in which a blameless person ends up incarcerated later flees to exact retribution.

Life in Confinement

The former leader remained secluded for his own security in a space of about nine sq metres including private facilities in the Paris jail in Paris. Security personnel were stationed in the next cell.

It was stated that he consumed only yoghurts while inside due to concerns any food could have been tampered with. He had facilities for self-catering but he turned this down, based on unnamed sources. Unclear remains whether Sarkozy will write about his dietary choices.

Defense Viewpoint

The legal representative, Christophe Ingrain every day during the incarceration, told the release hearing his safety would improve out of prison compared to inside. “He has faced death threats, listened to yells at night plus rapid actions in a neighbouring cell during an inmate’s self-injury.”

Legal Proceedings

His incarceration began last month following the judiciary gave him five years in prison for criminal conspiracy related to a plan to acquire political donations for his presidential bid.

He maintains his innocence and has appealed against the verdict, and a fresh trial set for early next year.