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The ex-president of France plans a memoir next month titled A Prisoner’s Diary, detailing the period served behind bars.

The announcement was made less than two weeks following the ex-leader was released as his appeal proceeds the court ruling related to illegal collaboration in a case to secure political financing linked to the government of Muammar Gaddafi.

Time in Custody: Inner Thoughts

“Behind bars visibility is limited, and activities are scarce,” he writes in an extract, indicating the account will focus on his thoughts while in solitary confinement instead of wider commentary of the strained and crisis-hit correctional facilities in the country.

“Quiet is absent, which doesn’t exist at the prison, where there is endless commotion,” he states. “The din is alas constant. But, just like the desert, inner life grows stronger behind bars.”

Release Hearing: Recounting the Hardship

During his plea for freedom, Sarkozy participated by video link from a room in prison, depicting prison life as exhausting. He stated to the judge: “I must acknowledge the correctional officers, showing great humanity, and who have made this ordeal bearable – as it truly is one.”

“It never crossed my mind that in my seventies, I’d be in prison. It’s an ordeal I must endure. I admit it’s difficult, deeply straining. It has an impact every inmate due to its intensity.”

Unprecedented Situation

Sarkozy, who led the nation from 2007 to 2012, was the first former head of an EU country and the first postwar leader from France to experience jail.

Ahead of his incarceration he had said he planned to utilize the opportunity to compose an account.

Reading Material

It remains unclear did he manage to review and analyze the three books he took into prison: a two-volume biography of Jesus together with Dumas’s work the classic tale, where a blameless person ends up incarcerated then breaks out to seek vengeance.

Daily Reality

The former leader was placed secluded for his own security in a space approximately nine square meters with his own shower and toilet at La Santé prison located in the capital. Two bodyguards were stationed in a neighbouring cell.

Reports indicated that he had eaten just yogurt during his stay worried that prison cuisine may have been contaminated. Although he had access to prepare his own meals yet he declined, as per accounts. It is uncertain whether Sarkozy will write about his dietary choices.

Defense Viewpoint

Sarkozy’s lawyer, who visited his client every day during the incarceration, informed the court his safety would improve out of prison compared to inside. “He received threats against his life, heard shouts during nighttime and emergency responses in an adjacent room when a prisoner self-harmed.”

Legal Proceedings

His incarceration began in late October after the judiciary sentenced him to a half-decade term for criminal conspiracy over a scheme to acquire election financing for his 2007 presidential race.

He maintains his innocence and has appealed against the verdict, and a fresh trial is scheduled for the coming spring.