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Nicolas Sarkozy plans a book in the coming weeks called A Prisoner’s Diary, which recounts his time spent in jail.

The announcement came less than two weeks following the ex-leader gained freedom while he contests the court ruling for criminal conspiracy in a case to secure election campaign funds from the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi.

Time in Custody: Solitary Musings

“In prison visibility is limited, and activities are scarce,” he reflects in one passage, suggesting the account centers around his musings from isolation as opposed to wider commentary of the overcrowded and struggling French prison system.

“Quiet is absent, which doesn’t exist at the prison, where noise is constant sound,” he states. “The din is alas constant. However, akin to empty spaces, one’s inner world is strengthened while incarcerated.”

Release Hearing: Describing the Ordeal

At his release request hearing, he was present by video link from a room in prison, depicting prison life as draining. He expressed in court: “I want to pay tribute the correctional officers, showing great humanity, and who have made this ordeal tolerable – since it’s deeply troubling.”

“I didn’t expect that in my seventies, I would end up incarcerated. It’s a hardship forced upon me. I admit it’s difficult, deeply straining. It leaves a mark every inmate because it’s gruelling.”

First of Its Kind

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

Prior to imprisonment he declared he would use his time to write a book.

Reading Material

It remains unclear if he found the opportunity to go through the three books he had in his cell: a biography of Jesus in two parts and Alexandre Dumas’s novel The Count of Monte Cristo, in which an innocent man ends up incarcerated but escapes to exact retribution.

Prison Conditions

He remained in solitary confinement due to safety concerns in a space roughly 100 square feet including private facilities at the correctional facility located in the capital. Security personnel occupied an adjacent room.

It was stated that he consumed solely dairy snacks during his stay worried that prison cuisine may have been contaminated. Although he had access for self-catering yet he declined, as per accounts. Not known is if the memoir includes his dietary choices.

Defense Viewpoint

Sarkozy’s lawyer, who visited his client every day while he was in prison, told the release hearing he would be safer outside jail rather than in custody. “There were death threats, has heard screaming at night and emergency responses in an adjacent room as a detainee harmed themselves.”

Legal Proceedings

His incarceration began on 21 October when a Paris court gave him a five-year sentence for illegal collaboration in connection with efforts to obtain campaign funds for his 2007 presidential race.

He disputes the charges challenging the decision, with a new trial is scheduled for the coming spring.