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The ex-president of France plans a personal account in the coming weeks titled A Prisoner’s Diary, which recounts his experience endured in custody.

The revelation came less than two weeks after the ex-leader was released while his appeal proceeds the guilty verdict related to illegal collaboration regarding a scheme to secure presidential race money provided by the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.

Prison Experience: Solitary Musings

“In prison there is nothing to see, with little to occupy time,” he writes in a preview, indicating the account is more about his musings while in seclusion as opposed to wider commentary on the strained and crisis-hit correctional facilities in the country.

“Silence escapes me, which doesn’t exist in that facility, where there is a lot to hear,” he states. “The noise unfortunately never stops. Yet, similar to barren lands, personal reflection is strengthened while incarcerated.”

Freedom Plea: Describing the Ordeal

At his release request hearing, Sarkozy was present via screen from inside the facility, depicting prison life as draining. He stated to the judge: “I want to pay tribute to all the prison staff, showing great humanity, and who have made this ordeal tolerable – since it’s deeply troubling.”

“It never crossed my mind that at 70 years of age, I would end up incarcerated. It’s a trial that has been imposed on me. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, deeply straining. It affects one all who experience it due to its intensity.”

Unprecedented Situation

The former president, the ex-head of state between 2007 and 2012, set a precedent as ex-leader from the EU and the first postwar leader of France to be incarcerated.

Before entering jail he mentioned he would use his time to compose an account.

Reading Material

It remains unclear whether he had time to go through the volumes he took into prison: a life story of Jesus spanning two books together with Dumas’s work The Count of Monte Cristo, a plot where a wrongfully accused individual is imprisoned later flees to take revenge.

Prison Conditions

Sarkozy was held secluded to protect him in a room roughly 100 square feet featuring a personal bathroom at La Santé prison located in the capital. Two bodyguards occupied an adjacent room.

It was stated his diet consisted solely dairy snacks in prison worried that meals provided could have been tampered with. Although he had access to prepare his own meals but he turned this down, as per accounts. It is uncertain if the memoir includes his dietary choices.

Lawyer’s Statements

The legal representative, Christophe Ingrain daily while he was in prison, told the release hearing security would be better out of prison compared to inside. “There were threats against his life, has heard screaming during nighttime plus rapid actions in an adjacent room during an inmate’s self-injury.”

Case Background

His incarceration began in late October following a French court gave him five years in prison for illegal collaboration related to a plan to acquire political donations for his 2007 presidential race.

He maintains his innocence challenging the decision, and a fresh trial is scheduled for next spring.