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The ex-president of France is preparing a memoir next month called Diary of a Prisoner, detailing his time endured in jail.

The revelation came just 11 days following the ex-leader was released while his appeal proceeds the court ruling on charges of illegal collaboration connected to efforts to acquire election campaign funds from the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.

Prison Experience: Personal Reflections

“In prison one sees little, and nothing to do,” he reflects in an extract, indicating the account is more about his reflections during isolation instead of extensive analysis of the overcrowded and crisis-hit correctional facilities in the country.

“I forget silence, which is missing in La Santé, where one hears a lot to hear,” he continues. “The noise unfortunately never stops. However, akin to empty spaces, inner life is strengthened in prison.”

Release Hearing: Recounting the Hardship

While appealing for release, Sarkozy participated via screen from inside the facility, depicting prison life as draining. He had told the court: “I must acknowledge the correctional officers, showing great humanity, and who have made this difficult experience tolerable – since it’s deeply troubling.”

“It never crossed my mind at this stage of life, I’d find myself behind bars. It’s a hardship I must endure. It’s challenging, I acknowledge, extremely tough. It has an impact every inmate because it’s gruelling.”

First of Its Kind

Sarkozy, the ex-head of state for a five-year term, became the inaugural past president from the EU and the first leader since WWII from France to be incarcerated.

Before entering jail he declared he planned to utilize the opportunity for authoring a memoir.

Cell Library

It remains unclear whether he had time to review and analyze the three books he brought with him: a two-volume biography of Jesus and Alexandre Dumas’s novel the classic tale, a plot where a wrongfully accused individual is imprisoned but escapes to exact retribution.

Prison Conditions

He was placed secluded to protect him in a cell of about nine sq metres with his own shower and toilet in the Paris jail in Paris. Two bodyguards occupied a neighbouring cell.

Reports indicated that he consumed just yogurt during his stay because he feared prison cuisine might have been spat on. Although he had access to cook for himself yet he declined, based on unnamed sources. It is uncertain if the memoir includes what he ate in prison.

Lawyer’s Statements

Sarkozy’s lawyer, who saw him regularly daily throughout the jail term, stated during proceedings his safety would improve released compared to inside. “He received menacing messages, has heard screaming after dark and emergency responses in an adjacent room during an inmate’s self-injury.”

Legal Proceedings

Sarkozy went to prison on 21 October when the judiciary imposed a five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to secure political donations for his presidential bid.

He maintains his innocence and has appealed against the verdict, and another court case planned for next spring.